


Danganronpa - Haikyuu Havoc!!

by bokutosbunny



Category: Dangan Ronpa - All Media Types, Haikyuu!!
Genre: Abuse, Alternate Universe - Dangan Ronpa Fusion, Angst, Blood and Injury, Blood and Violence, Danganronpa AU, Flashbacks, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Implied/Referenced Sexual Assault, Killing Game (Dangan Ronpa), Killing Game Executions (Dangan Ronpa), M/M, Memory Loss, Mentions of Suicide, Multi, Murder, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, POV Alternating, POV Multiple, Past Child Abuse, Suicide, Tags May Change, Ultimate Talents, Ultimates (Dangan Ronpa), Violence, haikyuu!! - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-17
Updated: 2020-12-01
Packaged: 2021-03-04 20:07:26
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 11
Words: 56,039
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25052158
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bokutosbunny/pseuds/bokutosbunny
Summary: "I should have realized that ultimate luck wasn’t the reason I was brought here to Hope’s Peak Academy. It was so I could experience ultimate despair..."A Haikyuu!! fic set in the Danganronpa universe. All characters have ultimates. There are ships but they'll be more minor than other topics. You do not need to have played Danganronpa/watched it in order to understand, it all starts from the beginning! Anyways, enjoy!
Relationships: Akaashi Keiji/Bokuto Koutarou, Azumane Asahi/Nishinoya Yuu, Haiba Lev/Yaku Morisuke, Hinata Shouyou/Kageyama Tobio, Iwaizumi Hajime/Oikawa Tooru, Kozume Kenma/Kuroo Tetsurou, Sawamura Daichi/Sugawara Koushi, Semi Eita/Terushima Yuuji, Tsukishima Kei/Yamaguchi Tadashi
Comments: 54
Kudos: 134





	1. Hope's Peak Academy

Towering over the small bustling city the high school stood. A magnificent school, only for the most gifted adolescents to attend. A school so grand, promising to bring hope to its society. The government shovels an undisclosed amount of pretty zeros into this place, it’s almost as if the school oversees the entire world at its center. Hope’s Peak Academy; a school where not even the filthy rich can even get in—no. This school focuses on the very aspect of talent alone. The school board gathers the top students within every field imaginable. There’s a rumor that if you can graduate from here, you’ll be set for life. Standing tall for years of tradition and recognition, this school deploys the best of the best into the workforce every batch of graduates. Hopes Peak Academy is truly a fitting name. The greatest purpose of it all to excel our country’s hope into astronomical levels.

There are two requirements to attend a school of this stature. The first being you need to already attend highschool. Second, you have to be the very best at what you do. The only way to enroll here is to be scouted by the school itself. And out of the millions of people walking this earth right now, standing there in front of the gate, was me.

Before we go any further, I guess I should introduce myself. My name is Shoyo Hinata. To everyone else, I’m nothing special. To myself, I’m nothing special either. I’m nothing to fawn over, and I have pretty much nothing going for me when it comes to grades and special talents, even my personality. To everyone ever, I’m just another face in the crowd. But here I am, standing in right front of the ever towering school of hope. 

Last night I decided to brace myself for the school year ahead and visited some chatrooms online to see if I could get some info on my classmates.

I heard from some users that the all-time infamous Ultimate Daredevil is going to be attending. This guy is rumored to never turn down a dare. He’s even paid people to make it ten times worse! He lives a little on edge, but I’ve heard he’s a good guy. I’ve also heard about the Ultimate Aikido Master. This guy has been undefeated for so many years that his latest opponent forfeited before they could even step on the mat! He’s a loudmouth with an ego too. Oh! There’s a lot of things going around about the Ultimate Confectionist, apparently, he’s super cute. I guess he’s also from the same region of Japan that I’m from! I haven’t heard a lot about appearances, but from what I’ve heard this guy has freckles, tons of them. I heard that his old nickname was Japan’s sweetheart. There’s also this guy that managed to become the Ultimate Model, even though he’s only sixteen. It’s crazy, but I heard he can totally annihilate the competition with just one look. I bet those lot put things into perspective. 

There are even more amazingly talented individuals going to Hope’s Peak this year. The Ultimate Gamer, the Ultimate Chemist, the Ultimate Gambler... just to name a few. I couldn’t find any info on all of my classmates though. I guess Hopes Peak must know their stuff if they can scout people that aren’t very vocal about their talents. 

Knowing all this, one problem stood tall. How could such a painfully average kid like me make it to Hopes Peak Academy? How could I be accepted into an “ultimate” highschool? You just have to take one small look at the acceptance letter to see why. 

“We recently held a lottery to select one ordinary student to attend our school.” It read, “As a result, you’ve been selected and we invite you to join us as the Ultimate Lucky Student.” There it was, crystal clear— I was invited because of pure luck. Thinking back on it, I probably would have been better off declining their offer, but once the word got around that simply graduating was a guarantee for success late in life, I just couldn’t say no.

Looking at the huge gate in front of me made me feel queasy like I was going to throw up. I felt like I didn’t belong. I wanted to compete with the ultimates, I wish I just had some sort of gift to challenge others with, and maybe luck was just that. But the dark grey polish of the spiked gate chilled me to my core and acted as a reminder that these guys are definitely above me. Just like the towering presence of the school. 

My eyes traveled from the gate towards the acceptance letter in my hands. I had been clutching so hard that the letter had noticeable stress, large crinkles folding where my fingers dig into the paper. The letter had stated that there would be a meeting for us incoming students at eight a.m. I was quite early, but I ultimately decided to just head in. “Yeah... Yeah! I’ve got this!” I cheered to myself. I sucked in a huge breath, and puffed my chest, like a big scary crow. I gathered up all my courage and tried to act like I’ve done this one million times before. I quietly released my breath and walked into the main corridor. 

I had braced myself for what might be on the other side of the door, but it was empty. “Huh… I guess I’m the first one here.” I mumbled to myself. 

I took in my surroundings and spotted a really pretty clock in the corner. It was seven-ten a.m. I guess I was just so wound up that I showed up super early. There’s no point in standing around, I might as well get myself acquainted with the school. Yeah. Maybe that’ll help me calm down. “I am a student here. It shouldn’t be a problem that I’m looking around.” I thought out loud, subconsciously dragging my foot back and forth on the floor. If it’ll help kill time and kill some jitters, it shouldn’t be a problem, right? I shook my head quickly and just decided to go for it. This is my first time inside of my new school, where I was going to be starting a new life. 

...At least, that’s what I had hoped for. 

A sharp pain hit my head, a swirl of sickness burrowing in my stomach, so painful and unlike the normal butterflies I had ever experienced. When I took that first step into the academy, my vision was warped. What was once the main lobby became a sea of watercolors, swirling and mixing into some sort of mesh. “What the-“ I began, feeling myself start to sway side to side and stumble over my own feet. The colors blended more, swirling and spinning, until they swirled again, and then in the next moment… 

It all went black. 

That was how it all started, the beginning of the end of my life, that hadn’t even started. At that moment… I should have realized that ultimate luck wasn’t the reason I was brought here to Hope’s Peak Academy. It was so I could experience ultimate _despair_...


	2. Introductions!

“Nngg...” I groaned, shifting around. A pounding pulse in my head caused me to begin to wake up. Slowly I lifted my head and squinted, a faint throbbing behind my eyes. “What...” I spoke groggily. I had fallen asleep on a hard and shiny wooden desk, in some sort of classroom. It was normal for me to doze off during class and whatever… but what am I doing sleeping here? I’ve never been in this classroom before. Groaning, I ran my fingers through my wild orange sherbet locks.

It was a peculiar classroom, with a podium at the head adorned with the Hope's Peak crest. Behind that, a monstrous chalkboard that stretched almost to the floor. The walls were a funky giraffe pattern, accented with clocks and cork boards. A camera hung from the left corner, at the perfect angle to capture the entire classroom. 

My eyes found their way back to my desk, which had a small note on top of it. I reached out and held the paper up to my face. Not that my art skills are anything special, but this little note looks like it was scribbled by a seven-year-old. It said, “The next semester is about to start.” in poor handwriting. “Starting today, this school will be your entire world.” And that was it. What the hell? Is this someone’s idea of a joke? I placed the note back on the desk and started to look around more. On the left side near the camera, there were weird… metal plates... bolted to the walls.

In a normal classroom, that’s where windows should be. I brought my fist up to one and decided to gently knock on it. It made two clanking sounds and I lowered my fist. Yep, just as I thought, totally metal and super hard and solid. Wait! That’s not the problem here! Why the heck are there bolts covering these windows in the first place? I took a quick glance at the clock, which presented eight a.m. Geez, had it already been an hour? It was a little past seven when I got here. Okay okay, calm down Shoyo. Let's think about this. Maybe I had just gotten myself so worked up that I just passed out in the lobby, and someone carried me here. If that’s true, that means this is a classroom inside of Hope's Peak. But, then again, if that’s true, this all just raises more questions. 

The bolts on the windows… it’s like this place is a prison. None of this makes sense! I looked back at the clock and realized my predicament. It’s past eight now, so I should probably head to the main hall. The meeting has already started, so there might be more students now. I made my way towards the right side of the room, where a brown door stood tall. Something felt off, _really off_ , but I tried to shake the nerves and opened the door to step into the hallway. I was not expecting what I saw next. 

The hallway was illuminated by orchid purple lights, the floor a checkerboard pattern. This is seriously getting weirder by the second. I guess I should head to the main hall now. There was another corridor to my left, but this one was lit up by a parakeet green. A little further down the hallway were two doors on my left. They were wide open, but I couldn’t see anything beyond the doorway. I took a deep breath and walked in. By the time I got into the main hall… 

Everyone else was already there. 

“Check it out! Another new guy!” A voice called out. My eyes snapped up from the ground. ”Hey hey hey little dude!” Another voice boomed. “Huh? Then you guys are all...” I trailed off, my eyes sweeping from left to right, taking in all of them.“Yeah. This is supposed to be our first day of school.” Another voice explained. Yet another voice spoke up, “Counting him, there’s twenty-two of us. I wonder if there’s any more?” The room fell silent as everyone continued to stare at me. 

This is it.. these are the ultimates that have been scouted by Hope's Peak, standing right before me. It might’ve been my imagination, but I swear there was some kind of aura coming from each of them. “Uh… what’s up? My name’s Shoyo Hinata.” My toes curled inside my shoes as this was one of the most awkward positions I’ve ever been put in. “Um—ah—I’m really sorry I’m late some stuff happened and I fell asleep and then woke up here—“ I stammered, feeling pressured under their gazes. 

“Woah! You too?” A short boy exclaimed. He had spiky black hair and a little blonde streak jutting over his forehead. 

A guy with grey hair and a mole near his eye sighed and furrowed his eyebrows, “Things keep getting weirder and weirder…” He mumbled, grabbing his chin in thought. 

Another guy with brown hair pulled back into a bun, who, to be honest, did not look like a high schooler, but some middle-aged thug, spoke next. “This place is seriously freaking me out,” he started, a shiver going up his spine, “I’m getting seriously anxious.” He finished, smoothing the top of his hair. 

The guy next to him, who had wavy black hair and kind brown eyes gave him a small, reassuring pat on the shoulder. “It’s okay big guy. Deep breaths alright?” The guy with the man bun met his gaze and offered him a small, nervous smile. The guy with black hair gave him a bigger one in return, his eyes closed and head slightly tilted to the side. 

“Ahhh man up man bun! This is our kick-ass new school, so ya better get used to it!” A guy with a shaved head barked. 

The guy with grey hair from earlier jumped into action, hollering, “Hey! Boys, please play nice!” All eyes landed on him, eyebrows raising at his wording. A blush began to creep its way over his cheeks, “Um—ah— sorry! It’s a habit.” He sputtered, rubbing at the back of his neck, his eyes downcast on the floor. “Hey, um, since we’re probably all here, why don’t we stop fighting and just introduce ourselves?” He suggested, raising interest instead of eyebrows this time. 

“Are you kidding? This isn’t the time for fuckin’ introductions!” A guy with a blonde buzz cut and two black streaks growled, like some sort of feral dog. 

Another guy with spiky black hair and droopy eyes spoke up this time. “I agree with mom over there,” he stated, jabbing a lazy thumb over at the silver-haired guy. “How are we supposed to talk to each other when we don’t even know each other’s names?” Yet another guy spoke up, “Yeah. It’s probably best to get acquainted before we delve into the deeper problems here.” 

There were some mumbles of agreement amongst us. “Psh, all we gotta do is introduce ourselves? Easy peasy, nice and cheesy!” A voice from before yelled, his loud and energetic character seeping through his words. I’m still super confused… and very nervous to meet all these unique personalities, but I guess this is as good of a chance if any. I’ll start with the five on my right. 

I might as well deal with the most intimidating person, just to get them out of the way. I looked over everyone, there were three that I noticed before, the guy with the man bun, the guy with grey hair, and the guy with the black wavy hair. Those guys all seemed pretty nice so I’ll go to them last. After them was the boy that had the black spiked hair with the blonde streak. Then, lastly was one of the scariest guys I have ever seen in my life. 

He was tall, muscular, and had these piercing cobalt blue eyes that could kill with just a look. I suddenly regretted choosing to meet the scary guys first, but no turning back. I gathered up the little courage I had and wobbled up to him. All of my muscles locked up and my shoulders raised together awkwardly when I finally stood face to face with him. I stiffly shot out a hand for him to shake. “H-Hi! I’m Shoyo Hinata, Ultimate Lucky Student!” I squeaked, my nervousness was completely apparent. The guy made a lazy “hm” noise and looked down on me with his narrowed icy blue eyes. 

He grabbed my hand in a bone-crushing grip, “Tobio Kageyama. Ultimate Athletic Trainer,” He grumbled, eyes narrowing further. “You need to loosen up your muscles dumbass, or you’re gonna pull something.” He concluded, with a slight nod of our clasped hands, before retracting his. 

I sputtered incoherent offended noises, before blurting out, “Hey! Who are you calling dumbass, bateyama?” I sassed, placing my hands on my hips. 

This seemed to light a little fire inside of Kageyama. “Ohhh you wanna play the name game shrimpy? Bring it on!” Kageyama snapped, crossing his arms over his chest. 

“Stupid-head!”

“Shorty!”

“Butt-face!” 

“Small fry!” 

I let out a quiet growl and grabbed onto his wrist, beginning to pull him towards the guy with spikey hair. “I’m not arguing anymore! We need to meet everyone, and you’re coming with me Bakageyama!” I shouted, speaking again before he could argue. “We’re gonna stick together so you aren’t super mean to everyone else!” I asserted and Kageyama grumbled out a “fine”. 

I finished marching over to the guy with the blonde streak, Kageyama not far behind. I was a little more confident to talk to this guy because he was the only one here shorter than me which gave me a small sense of pride, even though I was only a few inches taller. “Nice to meet you! I’m Hinata and this is Kageyama!” I smiled, gesturing between us. 

“Ultimate Athletic Trainer,” Kageyama stated stoically. 

I forgot I need to remind people how average I am. “Oh! Ultimate Lucky Student.” I bubbled. 

“More like the ultimate dumbass..” Kageyama snickered until I jabbed him in the side. 

The guy in front of us smirked and brought a thumb to his chest. “I’m Yu Nishinoya, the Ultimate Daredevil!” He proudly announced, tipping his chin up in the air. 

I gasped, and my face lit up like a Christmas tree. “I heard about you! You’re so cool! Do you seriously never turn down a dare?” I gushed, my hands clenched into fists. Nishinoya’s confident expression melted into a flustered one, a dark blush painting his cheeks. 

He waved his hands in front of him frantically, “I-I mean yeah! I’m super-cool and brave and stuff!” He stammered, his eyes darting around the room. He suddenly paused and leaned in close. “Do people really say that about me?” He questioned, his eyebrows raised. 

I nodded quickly, “Mhm! Mhm!” I confirmed, happily recalling the chatrooms I read through. 

He quickly picked his confidence back up and responded with “I mean of course people say that! I was just making sure I heard you right!” He assured, flopping his wrist forward and rolling his eyes playfully.

“It was nice meeting you! I’m sure we’ll talk later.” I smiled, Kageyama giving a grunt of agreement. 

“Yep! I’m sure!” He exclaimed, giving a thumbs up. 

That leaves the three guys who spoke out earlier. Kageyama and I walked over to introduce ourselves. They seemed to be getting along really well, already indulged in some conversation. The guy with grey hair seemed to be rambling, the other two smiling warmly as they listened to him babble. The one with black hair chuckled when he realized that the grey-haired one didn’t even see us approach. He gestured towards us with his eyes, which made the other look over and jump slightly. 

“Ah! I’m so sorry guys! I tend to ramble a bit!” He simpered, scratching the back of his head, much like earlier. 

The guy with the black hair smiled kindly and looked back to me and Kageyama. “How are you boys feeling?” He asked.

“Fine.” Kageyama shrugged, but his tone was actually respectful. “I’m doing great! I’m so excited to be here with all you super talented guys!” I beamed, making eye contact with all of them. They all smiled, the grey-haired one giving a small giggle. 

“How about we all get introduced then? I’m Daichi Sawamura, the Ultimate Therapist.” He smiled. 

The one with grey hair spoke up next. “I’m Koshi Sugawara, the ultimate babysitter, but, please, call me Suga,” Suga spoke, his voice smooth like butter, slightly breathily and calming to the ears. That explained what happened earlier when he told us to “play nice”. Lastly, was the intimidating guy with the man bun. He was smiling and chatting with Daichi and Suga, but he still looked like he was gonna crush me and gobble me up. Something stood out though, that guy looked more nervous than any of us. He looked a little unsure about speaking like he was battling with himself in his head. After a couple of seconds, and a reassuring glance from Suga and Daichi, he spoke up. 

“My name is Asahi Azumane, I’m The Ultimate Librarian.” He smiled awkwardly, but I could tell he meant true kindness behind it. Suga made a little squeal noise and wrapped his arms around Asahi’s shoulders, nuzzling his cheek into Asahi’s. 

“You did it, you big softie! Ahhh I knew it!” Suga giggled, squeezing tighter. Daichi joined in, giving Asahi a noogie. Despite being huge and muscular, Asahi squirmed in their grips, but still laughing along. 

Kageyama then decided to speak up. “Did you three go to Junior High together?” Kageyama asked, and to my surprise, he sounded genuinely curious. No mean undertones, no calling anyone dumbass, just a genuine question. Daichi and Suga continued to rough Asahi up but answered anyway. 

“Nahhh, we’re just proud of him for introducing himself! He was super nervous he was gonna scare you guys off.” Daichi explained, slowing down the noogie, that probably would’ve started a fire if he kept it up any longer. Suga squeezed a little tighter before popping off like a tentacle. 

“Though, we do seem to be hitting it off quite well.” Suga chimed in, clasping his hands together. Kageyama gave a nod and made an “Mm” sound, so I guess he’s back to grumpy old Bakageyama. 

Asahi groaned before fixing his hair, tucking the looser strands behind his ear. “Come on guys... don’t make this a big deal,” Asahi grumbled, his shoulders slouching, “It’s not like I conquered Mount Everest or something…” Asahi trailed, finishing his thought from earlier. 

All of a sudden, a big shadow cast over me. “You might not, but I sure will!” A voice squawked. I looked up to see a tall guy, a really tall guy, with smokey grey hair towering over me. A blonde boy was stomping angrily behind him. The blonde boy had a daisy nestled in his small curls, tucked right behind his ear. He had on an oversized cream sweater, the sleeves flopping a little past his wrists. He really looked like a fussy little baby. 

“What did I tell you, Lev?” He shouted, his hands bunching into fists. Lev went pale, his body immediately stiffening up at his presence. “Stop. Being. So. Cocky!” He barked, raising his foot and winding it up, to quite literally, kick Lev’s ass. Lev yelped as he launched forward, stumbling over his lanky legs. 

Lev groaned as he stood up straight. “For such a little guy you really pack a punch…” Lev whined, rubbing his backside. The blonde gave Lev a mirthful grin, his eyes wide with a little bit of malice burning in them. 

“Do I hear someone asking to be kicked again?” He smiled, despite the innocence of it, you could clearly tell he was super pissed. I guess he doesn’t like people commenting on his height. 

There was silence for a brief moment before the guy with blonde hair giggled. “Sorry about him,” he grinned, twirling a curl around his finger, “He’s a big dumb idiot.” He smiled, grabbing Lev's hand. Lev whined a hey, dragging out the “y”. The blonde jabbed Lev in his side with his free hand and nodded towards us. “C'mon you big dummy, introduce yourself.” He said, with a pout. 

Lev nodded, “I’m Lev Haiba. The Ultimate Hiker, and one day I am going to be the world‘s greatest!” He chanted proudly, much like Nishinoya, but for some reason, I didn’t believe him as much. 

The blonde one grumbled something about cockiness before he introduced himself as well. “Ultimate florist, Morisuke Yaku. Nice to meet you all.” Yaku said politely, tilting his head. The rest of us introduced ourselves and announced our ultimates. We said our goodbyes, so Kageyama and I went to introduce ourselves to more people. 

Towards the middle of the room, were four more guys, one of them sitting against the wall. The one I noticed first was quite literally bouncing around another. The one bouncing around was wearing a Judo uniform, his black hair and frosted tips spiked up into two devil horns, resembling an owl. 

The one he was bouncing around was an extremely pretty guy, with wavy black hair. He had on Oxford blue dress pants and a button-up of the same color, with white stripes going up and down. The shirt was unbuttoned and cuffed a little past his elbows. Under the shirt was a white turtleneck. He looked like a model or something! 

The one sitting against the wall had brown roots and blonde ends. His hair was parted in the middle and ended a bit past his chin. Little pew-pew sounds left the console in his hands, soft clicking noises coming from his fingertips. He was wearing a large lab coat, that was definitely three sizes too big for him. 

One more guy stood beside him, leaning against the wall with one foot propped up against it, his arms crossed over his chest. He wore black dress pants, a white button-up, and a plain red tie. His hair was super spikey, a piece flopping over his forehead, downcast over his right eye. He looked like a rooster! 

I was super curious about the guy with the lab coat, so I nudged Kageyama and we both walked towards him and the other guy. The guy standing seemed to notice us walking closer and grinned, looking down at the faux blonde next to him. "Kenma," he began, startling him, causing him to let out a little whine when he died in the game he was playing, "We have more people to meet." He said, holding out a hand for Kenma to help him up. 

Kenma took it, and mumbled out a "sure", his eyes fixated on the floor. I had been so curious about the lab coat that I just kind of blurted out my question. "Your coat is so cool! Are you like a scientist or something?" I exclaimed, actually catching his attention. He made eye contact with me for a brief moment, before looking back down to the floor, his hands and gaming system shoved into his pockets.

"Nahhh," the black-haired guy started, slinging an arm around Kenma's shoulder, "It's mine." He smiled, pinching Kenma's cheek, resulting in another uncomfy shiver and whine. He placed his free hand on his hip, "He said he was cold so I gave him my lab coat. I'm The Ultimate Chemist. Tetsurou Kuroo." Kuroo explained, smirking lazily. I nodded. That made sense. 

"Ultimate... Gamer." Kenma mumbled, reaching into his pocket to grab his handheld again. "Kozume Kenma..." Kenma muttered, starting his game back up. I perked up like a puppy and leaned forward. I honestly think my eyes were sparkling. 

"That's a really cool name Kenma! I'm Shoyo Hinata, Ultimate Lucky Student!" I smiled and then pointed at Kageyama. "That's Kageyama," I paused puffing up my chest and putting my hands on my hips. "He's the Ultimate Athletic Trainer," I boomed, purposefully making my voice deeper like an announcer guy. Kageyama rolled his eyes, but before he could speak up, (probably to call me a dumbass,) Kenma spoke. 

"I like your name too. Do you... mind if I call you Sho? I think it suits you." He asked quietly, his eyes never leaving his game. I made an excited noise and frantically nodded my head. A small smile formed on his once emotionless features, making my heart swell with joy. "Okay... Sho." He spoke quietly, glancing up, and meeting my eyes as he said my name. 

"Huh? Kenma you don't have any nicknames for meee!" Kuroo whined, now wrapping both of his arms around Kenma, and squeezing. Kenma sighed and shifted to the side a little, to see his game better. 

"That's because I like Sho." He responded simply, his eyes lazy and bored just like Kuroo's. 

Kuroo gasped in mock hurt, clutching his chest. "I'm hurt, pudding head!" Kuroo cried, to which Kenma just ignored, and continued to tap away at his game. Kuroo pouted before turning back to us and smirking once again. "Why don't you two head over to Bokuto and Akaashi?" He recommended pointing at the guy with the owl hair and the guy with the black hair. "They're two great characters." Kuroo added, his eyes and eyebrows emphasizing the "great" part. Kageyama and I nodded, me giving a nice to meet you to Kuroo, and a small wave to Kenma, which he returned, his eyes never leaving his screen. I did catch the little smile he made though. 

While making our way over to Bokuto and Akaashi, one of them seemed to notice that we were coming. The owl-haired guy whipped his head in our direction, halting his loud babbles to the other momentarily. He ran towards us incredibly fast, swooshing right behind me and putting me into a suffocating headlock. "Hey, Hey, Hey Shrimpy!" He exclaimed, squeezing tighter. I gasped for air while Kageyama watched and cracked up—that jerk! "Hoooow's it goin'?" He asked loudly. 

"Can't—Breath—" I choked out, squirming in his iron grip. 

The hyper owl-like man finally released me and ruffled my hair. "Sorry, little dude! Couldn't help m'self!" He chuckled, placing his hands on his hips and smiling proudly. 

The other guy sighed, walking towards us, planting himself next to the other guy. "You'll get used to it," he started, playing with his cuffed sleeves. "Bokuto likes to practice his Aikido on everyone." He explained. He had a similar expression to Kenma, basically emotionless. 

"Ahhh, what can I say 'Kashi? I seriously couldn't help myself!" Bokuto exclaimed, his loud voice not dying for a second. So that makes the other guy Akaashi.

"Yes Bokuto, I know, but please do try to refrain from scaring them." He lectured, giving him a pleading side glance. 

Bokuto gave him a toothy grin and a thumbs up, before turning back to us, his arms crossed. "Go on and introduce yourselves, squirts!" Bokuto cheered, a confident smile painting his features. Kageyama and I gave our run of the mill introductions, giving our ultimates and such. Bokuto nodded along, Akaashi just listening respectfully. 

When it came time for Akaashi and Bokuto to introduce themselves I assumed Bokuto would go first, but he clasped his hands together and gushed, "You can go first Akaashi! They're gonna love your super cool ultimate!" Bokuto swayed from side to side, his clasped hands going up to squish against his cheek. I swear I could see hearts in his eyes. 

Akaashi smiled softly and spoke up. "I'm Keiji Akaashi. Ultimate Model. Nice to meet you." He said plainly but kindly. 

Bokuto squealed and hugged Akaashi from behind, resting his chin on his shoulder. "That was so good 'Kashi! You're so cool!" Bokuto giggled giving him a firm squeeze. 

Akaashi gave a small smile again and gently leaned back into his grip. "Thank you Bokuto, now go ahead and introduce yourself," Akaashi spoke, giving a tap to one of the arms around his waist. 

Bokuto scrambled to begin his introduction, like he forgot he even had to do it, like a one-track mind puppy. Bokuto got into an “en garde” stance, his arms sharp in a slanted “T” shape. “I am Kotaro Bokuto! The Ultimate Aikido Master! Hi-yah!” Bokuto yelled with pride, chopping his arms through the air, energy striking all the way through his fingertips. "Did you hear me Akaashi? I mean did you freakin’ hear that? I sounded totally cool like you, right? Right?" Bokuto asked, his words coming out really fast. 

Akaashi gave him a polite nod, the small smile still resting on his face. "Yes Bokuto, great job." He praised, making Bokuto let out a bashful giggle. 

Bokuto placed his hands back on his hips, “Ahhh it was nothin’!” He goofed, making Akaashi roll his eyes playfully. 

Once my initial shock wore off from that totally awesome intro, I squealed and bunched my hands into fists. “That was so awesome! When you struck that pose you were all like fwoosh! And sha-bang! And like wa-zing!” I cheered, trying to replicate his chopping motions. 

Bokuto chuckled heartily lifting his chin up into the air. “It really was pretty cool, wasn’t it?” He boasted, his smile growing even bigger. I nodded hastily in agreement. I looked over to Kageyama as Bokuto continued to ramble on, and I was surprised to see him approaching Akaashi. 

“You’re… pretty cool too Akaashi. Ultimate Model is a nice title to have.” Kageyama spoke like it was hard to compliment Akaashi. 

Akaashi gave a peaceful smile and a nod. “Thank you, Kageyama. Your ultimate as well.” He said politely. 

Bokuto whined and his shoulders slumped. “I’m right over here, Ka-gey-yama! My Ultimate is awesome too!” Bokuto wailed, and I could’ve sworn his hair deflated with his ego and mood. 

Akaashi and Kageyama gave each other a “really” glance, annoyed by his childish behavior. “You seemed to have a lot of trouble being nice to Akaashi, Bakageyama…” I mumbled looking at the floor. 

“What did you say Stupid Hinata?” Kageyama barked, raising his fists. I yelped and hid behind Bokuto. A shiver ran up my spine when my eyes locked with the death stare Kageyama was giving me. 

“Scary!” I cried, ducking behind Bokuto’s shoulder. 

Bokuto patted my head and stepped away, crossing his arms across his chest. “You gotta get along little dudes! We’re all classmates, remember?” He scolded, though, there was no actual punch to it like Suga. Kageyama and I still continued to glare at each other though. Bokuto gasped, alerting me, Kageyama and Akaashi. “Oh, Oh, Oh! We gotta introduce you to Tsukki and Yams!” Bokuto chirped, pointing to two people standing together chatting. One of the two had on a black apron, little stars sprinkling all around. He had green hair and tons of freckles—oh! That must be the ultimate confectionist I heard about! Wow, they were right, he is super cute! The one next to him was lanky, much like Lev, equipped with black squared glasses, and had blonde curly hair like Yaku. 

Kageyama shrugged, “Okay,” he said, “Lead the way Bokuto.” Bokuto saluted and marched us over to the others.

The two were still engrossed in conversation when we stood in front of them, but the blonde took notice after a few seconds. When he made eye contact with Bokuto and realized that he was the presence he felt, he immediately deadpanned. 

“Hey, Hey, Hey, Tsukki-poo!” Bokuto boomed. 

“Ugh, not this simpleton idiot again.” The blonde scoffed adjusting his glasses. 

“H-Hey guys!” The one with green hair stammered a light blush on his cheeks. He lifted a small hand and gave a gentle wave. 

“You must be the ultimate confectionist right?” I exclaimed. Maybe it was a really good idea to go on those chat rooms and try to get myself familiar with these guys.

“O-Oh yes! I am.” He stammered playing with his apron. ”Tadashi Yamaguchi, if you wanted to know my name!” He squeaked, like he was unsure whether he should tell us or not. He fiddled with his fingers before shyly whimpering, “I-I brought um... cookies if you’d like to try them!” 

“Cookies?” Kageyama and I perked up at the same time, getting absolutely fired up at the mention of sweets. 

Yamaguchi nodded timidly, reaching into the small pocket in the front of his apron, pulling out a little baggie of cookies he mentioned. He handed them to me and gave me a small smile. I immediately ripped the baggie open, shoveling cookies into my mouth. “Hey! You’re sharing those, Dumbass!” Kageyama barked, grabbing the bag from me. 

“Dese are sho gewd! I exclaimed, cookies barely chewed, messing up my pronunciation. 

Kageyama was quietly munching on his, “Damn, I wish I had some milk.” He grumbled, raising the baggie up to his eyes to check out how many were left, then glancing back at me, his widening when we realized there was one left. 

“Gimme it! It’s mine!” I squealed, lunging for the cookie. 

“No way Boke! Screw off!” Kageyama retorted, leaning away and holding the bag just out of my reach. I growled and tried to jump for it, which seemed to amuse Kageyama and even the guy who Bokuto called “Tsukki-poo“. Kageyama finally ripped the cookie out of the bag and swallowed it whole. 

“Ugh! I can't believe you Kageyama!” I whined, giving him a death stare. Kageyama started to shout at me, but my eyes followed the sound of laughter. 

The guy with glasses was snickering to himself quietly. “One hundred percent idiots. Fighting over your cookies like the imbeciles they are.” He remarked snidely, not even looking at me and Kageyama. 

Yamaguchi began to giggle, his shoulders bouncing, and a hand coming up to cover the front of his mouth. Tsukki turned red, which I couldn’t tell if it was anger or not and he sputtered. “D-Don’t do that Yamaguchi!” He yelped, averting his gaze with a little sour frown. “It wasn’t that funny…” Tsukki said, adjusting his glasses. Yamaguchi’s giggles had quieted down. 

“Sorry, Tsukki!” Yamaguchi replied nervously, rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly. Tsukki’s redness seemed to darken, maybe he was just really angry?

“Hey Dumbass, are you even listening?” Kageyama barked, making me snap my eyes back over to him. I rolled my eyes. 

“Yeah. Sure. Why don’t we introduce ourselves to that Tsukki guy?” I asked not really wanting to hear him repeat the stuff I missed. 

Kageyama shrugged. “Whatever Hinata.” He spat my name like a disease, but I guess it was an upgrade from prior names. This Tsukki guy seemed like a total jerk, but I guess we still have to introduce ourselves. Kageyama spoke up first. “Hey, Glasses,” he started, already crossing his arms over his chest.

Tsukki made a soft hm sound, lifting his gaze from the floor. “Yes, I’ve already heard both your spiels, no need to bother.” He said, completely uninterested in what Kageyama had to say. 

“Hey! We still don’t know who you are though!” I retorted. He doesn’t want to meet us either, great. Tsukki scoffed and rolled his eyes. 

“Fine,” he huffed, “Kei Tsukishima, Ultimate Paleontologist.” He spat like it was a huge hassle to say a few words. My eyebrows furrowed, this guy is a paleontologist? Seriously? I glanced over at Kageyama and he looked just as confused as me. “What?” Tsukishima asked, still looking annoyed. 

“You really don’t look like one,” I paused, searching around the room for justification, “Shouldn’t you have a funky hat, or tools, or something?” I asked unimpressed with his bland appearance. Tsukishima “ugh’d”, lowering his chin so he could look at me outside of his glasses. 

“Just because I’m a Paleontologist doesn’t mean I play dress up, idiot.” Tsukishima spat. Kageyama started to snicker next to me, and I guess that set something off inside him. “Oh don’t laugh Mr. Athletic trainer. I’ve heard about you, they call you the king of the court because you make all of your athletes bow down like they’re the measly peasants,” Tsukishima snapped, reangling his chin upwards. “The only peasants I see here are you and that other idiot.” He scoffed, eyes now landing on me.

“What did you say, four-eyes?” Kageyama seathed, eyes narrowing. “My apologies, your highness.” Tsukishima seethed. Kageyama’s eyes darkened at the threatening tone. Tsukishima was about to say something else but Yamaguchi stopped him. 

He gripped Tsukishima’s wrist with his trembling hand, and squeaked out, “Tsukki…” timidly. Tsukishima looked down at his wrist and sighed. 

“Fine. I think it’s about time for you two to introduce yourselves to others anyways.” Tsukishima said, the anger in his eyes gone, now replaced with the same boredom and annoyance as the first time we spoke. Kageyama turned on his heel, huffing out: “Let’s go Hinata.” Before walking towards different people. 

I sighed. “Uh...It was nice to meet you both.” I spoke awkwardly. “I’ll see you guys around,” I mumbled, Tsukishima hummed, and Yamaguchi gave a small wave. I scurried to Kageyama’s side, trying my best to catch up. “Hey! Why’d you storm off like that? Do they seriously call you the king or whatever?” I asked ducking my head around to try and get a clear view of his expression. Kageyama huffed and shot me a whiplash-inducing glare, that made me squeal and back down. “Okay, Okay! I’m sorry! Geez!” I yelped, cowering in fear. 

“Whatever dumbass, come on, we have more people to meet.” Kageyama scowled. I guess I’m demoted back to dumbass. Great. While we were walking over to a new group of four people, we heard a familiar childish voice call out. 

“Hey, Hinata, Kageyama!” The energetic-as-ever Nishinoya called out. We stopped in our tracks and turned around, spotting Nishinoya bounding over, a guy with a black track jacket and a buzz cut. “I want you guys to meet Tanaka! Say hi bro!” Nishinoya shouted, not lowering his volume even though he was a foot away from us. Tanaka extended his arm to me, a smile splayed on his lips. 

“Nice to meet ya, dude! Ryunosuke Tanaka,” he trailed, allowing me to shake his hand, but a sharp pain clamped down on my palm, making me yelp and retract. “Ultimate… Prankster!” He howled in laughter, taking breaks between his words to try to catch his breath. Nishinoya was laughing too, tears welling up in his eyes from how hard he was laughing. Even Kageyama snickered a bit, which pissed me off even more. 

“What the hell was that? So not funny!” I cried, holding my wrist. Both Nishinoya and Tanaka began to calm down, clearly, they had this planned. 

When Tanaka finally finished wheezing, he wiped a tear and smiled at me. “Sorry, bro! I brought a hand buzzer and I just couldn’t help m’self!” Tanaka said cheerfully, patting my back with the hand that didn’t have a buzzer. 

“That was gold Hinata!” Nishinoya cheered. I grunted and looked away, crossing my arms. 

“I’m glad you found my pain funny,” I grumbled sarcastically. Tanaka gave another laugh, wrapping an arm around my shoulder. 

“Sorry, shorty! I’m just messin’ with ya.” Tanaka goofed, ruffling my hair. “By the way, Noya told me all about you guys, so you can go on and meet the guys you were walkin’ towards.” Tanaka gave a thumbs-up, and so did Nishinoya, so Kageyama and I said goodbye before continuing to walk towards the group of four. 

One standing in that area took notice before the others. “Hey, what’s up shorty and scary dude!” He called, giving us a wave. He had dyed blonde hair in a comb back, his ears pierced with black studs. He had on a black long sleeve button up, a gold vest over it, and a gold tie to match. He looked pretty formal for a highschool student, I can only wonder what his talent is. 

“Hi! I’m Hinata and this is Kageyama.” I introduced. The blonde smirked, a look of pure smugness and intimidation. Just like a fox stalking its prey.

“You guys seem really fun, do you gamble?” He asked, his curiosity seeming one hundred percent malicious. I cocked my head to the side, raising an eyebrow. Looking up at Kageyama, I was met with the same confusion. He ended up shrugging though.

“I don’t, and I’m pretty sure this dumbass doesn’t either,” Kageyama spoke, jabbing a finger into my temple. I winced and scowled, but Kageyama seemed more focused on the guy in front of us. The blonde gave us a playful pout and puppy dog eyes. 

“That’s such a shame! I whooped Semi’s ass at Blackjack earlier, he’s still kinda sour.” He sang, and a guy close by looked over at the mention of the name, the blonde giving him a flirty wave, him responding with a pout and eye roll. “Sadly, we didn’t have anything to bet, but I’m hoping soon we will.” He grinned. Kageyama and I were just standing there, why did this guy want to bet things so badly? The blonde’s eyes lit up, “Silly me, I almost forgot to introduce myself,” he paused, adjusting his vest, “Yuji Terushima, Ultimate Gambler.” He smirked. Makes sense, but now I have even more reason not to gamble with this guy. While he was talking I got a glance of a silver tongue ring. For some reason, it made me slightly nervous. 

The guy who I assumed was Semi, strutted over. “You didn’t need to tell them about my loss,” Semi sighed, fixing his white blazer, “Don’t let him rope you into this. He may have damn good talent, but it still makes you so angry when you lose.” Semi said, a bitter pout still on his face. Terushima only smirked wider, wrapping an arm around Semi, pulling him in close. 

“Don’t be upset baby, it’s all for fun,” Terushima chirped, despite his deeper than usual voice, “Why don’t you introduce yourself?” He grinned, making Semi sigh. 

Semi politely extended his hand to me, which I shook. He then switched to Kageyama. “Ultimate Secretary, Semi Eita.” He stared with a slight bow of his head. Kageyama and I bowed our heads back, grateful for his politeness. Terushima ruffled his grey locks, frosted with an even darker grey, almost reaching black. Semi groaned, trying to push Terushima’s hand away. Terushima just snickered, rubbing harder. 

“Terushima, please cease your ministrations, this isn’t very appropriate for a school environment.” A deep voice boomed. Suddenly things became darker, causing me to look up, and see an absolute giant towering over me. 

I squealed and jumped back, holding my arms in front of my face. “Hinata can you not be a dumbass for more than five seconds?” Kageyama groaned, probably embarrassed by me. I couldn’t help it! Not only was that guy super tall, but he was also huge! Like—super buff! 

“I did not mean to scare you. My apologies.” He informed me apathetically. I just nodded quickly, not daring to say a word. He seemed the most emotionless out of everyone here, his expression basically unmoving. His hair was a dark olive-brown, matching his eyes. He was really intimidating, looking like he could squash my head with just his fingers. 

“You must be Shoyo Hinata,” The scary guy said, “I have heard about you.” He finished, still very stoic. I sputtered, he heard about me? What is there to hear about? “You are quite loud Shoyo. Your introductions are something else.” He added. Oh, that makes sense, he must have heard me introducing myself to someone. 

I laughed sheepishly, “Yeah, there’s not much to me other than my personality, my ultimate isn’t that great compared to all of yours.” I sighed, looking to the ground. 

The brunette hummed like he was deciphering my words. “It is not about the ultimate talent, It is what you do with it.” He stated, giving me a little more confidence in myself. 

“Yeah, yeah,” Terushima interjected, looking bored with our conversation, “Just introduce yourself Mr. Serious-Pants.” He concluded annoyed, but playfully. 

The brunette nodded, “Ah yes. I am Wakatoshi Ushijima, The Ultimate Farmer.” Ushijima notified, his body and face remaining relaxed and still. I gave a bow of my head, it only felt right. Kageyama gave a bow of his head as well, I guess even the king can be pretty intimidated too. 

“Nice to meet you!” Kageyama and I said at the same time, causing Ushijima to nod with his eyes closed. 

“Tobio Kageyama, I have heard about you as well,” Ushijima started turning to Kageyama, “Shoyo has made sure you are known. You should thank him.” Ushijima bowed fully this time, before walking in the direction of different people.

I let out a breath I didn’t even know I was holding. Kageyama looked a bit stunned but recovered by shaking his head. “Uh… ah… um… th-thank you?” Kageyama said, but it sounded more like a question if anything else. Both Semi and Terushima snickered. I blushed a bit and nodded, “Don’t… mention it.” I said, my eyes wide and brows furrowed, still extremely confused at what the hell just happened. 

I looked back over to Ushijima to see that he was conversing with a guy with a buzz cut, his hair blonde with two lines of black hair, continuing around his head to mirror it on the other side. The guy with the buzz cut looked pissed like his eyebrows were frozen in a furrowed state. Ushijima gave him a curt nod, before continuing his walk. I then saw the blonde guy look up, and start walking in our direction. Semi then abruptly said, “We should get going right about now, right Terushima?” His voice wore a bit of worry. Terushima glanced around awkwardly for a second, before nodding. Terushima and Semi gave weird smiles remorseful waves before scurrying off. Oh god. Is this guy that bad? 

The soft sound of his sneakers against the floor stopped, as he haunted his movements and placed his foot down firmly. It was loud. His eyes were dark and narrow, judgingly looking at Kageyama and I up and down. He scoffed, before chiding, “I don’t give a damn about intros or niceties. But Iwaizumi said to give you my name so here, I’m Kentaro Kyotani, The Ultimate Boxer.” He cracked his knuckles in punctuation, interrupting me before I could introduce back. “I don’t care about your name kid, all I know is that I win and I’m the best fuckin’ boxer Japan has seen. Got it?” He growled. I gulped and nodded, while Kageyama stayed silent. Kyotani scoffed again before turning around. 

“Do you know anything about that guy, Kageyama?” I whispered, praying that Kyotani didn’t hear me. But the response I got wasn’t Kageyama’s voice.

“They call him Mad Dog,” a voice said slyly, “I’d look out, he bites.” The voice concluded, sneaky like a fox on the prowl. Kyotani must’ve heard, because he halted, whipped his head around, and stormed his way back. He didn’t even make it that far away! 

“The fuck did you say, red?” Kyotani snapped, his chest jutting forward in a threatening “back off” manner. “Ooh-hoo-hoo! Scary!” The guy behind me purred, slithering around my body to stand in between me and Kyotani, holding two peace signs up. 

“Tendo Satori, Ultimate Demolitionist!” The guy chirped, somehow cheerful even when one of the scariest guys here, and arguably the most aggressive, is totally pissed at him. His hair was cherry red and spiked, his eyes eerily wide and lips in a smug grin. Kyotani looked about ready to snap when he saw Tendo’s expression. 

Kyotani took a deep breath, like he was gonna scream, but huffed it out as if he had remembered something. “Whatever, you better watch yourself.” He threatened, before turning around and walking away again, this time more briskly. Tendo gave a mischievous giggle, before rolling his eyes. 

“Total coward. I can't believe I scared Mad Dog off!” He gasped, spitting Kyotani’s nickname like a slur. He was full-on laughing this time around, clenching his stomach like it was the funniest thing ever. 

I was frozen in place, and by the looks of it so was Kageyama. Some of these people are so wacky! Some of these introductions are so crazy and they go so fast, I have literally no idea how to keep up. Tendo’s laughs finally died down, and he wiped a tear from his eye. After regaining his composure he smirked again. 

“Anywho,” he sang, flexing his hand to examine his nails, “I already know about you two, so why don’t you scram and meet someone else?” He finished with a peppy smile, that I couldn’t help but believe had malicious intent. He wiggled his fingers in some sort of wave, “Toodles!” He resounded.

I looked up at Kageyama and he shrugged. I sighed and looked back at Tendo, almost having a heart attack when those wide eyes stared back at me. “Nice to meet you… Tendo.” I said hesitantly, still creeped out by his eyes and overall demeanor. He hummed in delight, his eyes closing, and his smile widening. Kageyama nudged me, and we turned to leave. 

We began our walk over to the last two people. One had fluffy dark brown hair, his eyes a matching color. He was wearing formal clothes, a navy blue blazer, with a black undershirt and matching black dress pants. To his right was a guy with spiked-up black hair and hazel eyes. He had on black scrubs, he must be a nurse or something. The brunette seemed cheerful and energetic, while the other just sat and listened, occasionally putting his word in. “Hey, Dumbass,” Kageyama spoke, without his usual edge, “You know that mad dog guy?” He asked looking down at me as we walked. 

I nodded, “Yeah. What about him?” I responded, curious. Kageyama sighed before looking to the side, then looking at the two ahead of us again. 

“I used to work with people who went against that guy. He’s hot shit. Absolutely crushes the competition.” Kageyama explained, his eyebrows knit together. I hummed. It made sense, the guy was intimidating, definitely aggressive, and totally confident. “I don’t know much about him personally, but it’s best if we don’t poke the bear. Ever.” Kageyama scowled, his tone warning. I made a noise of agreement and he looked down at me again, “That means none of your dumbass questions.” He insulted, but it had a playful edge to it. I elbowed him and pouted. 

“My questions are not dumb! There is no such thing as a dumb question!” I countered crossing my arms across my chest. 

“Be quiet Boke,” Kageyama jabbed, “I don’t want those guys to hear us, they’re not giving me great vibes right now,” Kageyama mumbled. I stuck my tongue out at him but listened anyway. 

When we had approached, the ravenette seemed like he was saying goodbye to the brown-haired guy. The brown-haired guy seemed to notice our presence without even looking, and nodded his head towards the side, alerting the other. He turned in our direction, a neutral expression on his face. 

I then noticed a name tag on his chest once he turned. “ _Hajime Iwaizumi_ ” It read, in bold black letters. Below it was a smaller, “ _Ultimate Medic_ ”, a red cross in the right corner of the tag. I took a mental note of that. That explains the scrubs. 

“Sorry guys, I was just about to leave, but I’m sure you’ll have fun with Shitty-Kawa,” Iwaizumi grumbled glancing towards the other. 

“Hey! How vulgar!” The other cried dramatically. “That hurts Iwa-Chan!” He whined, placing a hand on his chest. What annoyed me the most was I couldn’t tell if he was faking it or not. Iwaizumi rolled his eyes, bowing his head. “Once again, my apologies,” He sighed, completely ignoring “Shitty-Kawa’s” whines and puppy dog eyes for attention.

“I’ll be on my way now.” The Iwaizumi said, turning on his heel and walking away. Kageyama and I looked back towards the brunette. I opened my mouth to speak, but the guy in front of us beat me to it. 

“I bet you’re about to ask me my name and talent aren’t you?” He asked proudly, his chin up with a finger pointed accusingly at me. I felt my eyes widen as I stepped back. 

“No way! How did you know that?” I gasped, my eyebrows furrowing. The guy in front of me smirked and lowered his hand, planting both onto his hips. “I’m,” he started, striking his thumb towards his chest, “...The Ultimate Analyst.” He finished a mischievous glint in his eye. 

I could feel the grin start to grow across my face, “That’s so cool!” I exclaimed, balling my hands into fists and bringing them close to my chest. 

I heard Kageyama scoff from next to me. “That’s literally what everyone’s been asking each other dumbass. This guy didn’t analyze shit.” He spat, crossing his arms across his chest, his lips dipping into a small but pissed off frown. 

The Ultimate Analyst copied Kageyama’s move, crossing his arms across his chest as well, creating a tension thick atmosphere between us. “Ohhh look at you.” The Ultimate Analyst drew out, his confidence not faltering for a second. “Tobio Kageyama, right? The Ultimate Athletic Trainer. A pleasure to meet you.” He said, in an overly cheerful tone in comparison to the mood. 

Kageyama looked a bit taken aback that the guy knew his name, but quickly regained his composure, “Pleasures all mine.” Kageyama growled, his lips forming into a snarl. 

Oikawa tilted his head, eyes closed, and smiled, “Glad to hear it!” Suddenly he turned his focus back to me. 

“As for you little guy,” he spoke leaning forward a bit, “It’s nice to meet you as well. Tooru Oikawa.” He introduced, holding his hand out to me. I gladly took it, but my mood turned sour when I realized what he had said. 

“Hey! I’m not even that short, you… you… you stink-face!” I barked, my hands balling into fists at my sides. Oikawa seemed to be incredibly amused by this, bringing his hand up to ruffle my hair.

“How cute! This is just what I imagined the Ultimate Lucky Student to be like.” He chirped. I growled under his touch, my eyes averting and a blush creeping its way onto my cheeks. What an asshole! Who does this guy think he—my thoughts were interrupted by a flick on my forehead. 

“Ow!” I yelped, stumbling back and bumping into Kageyama. I gently rubbed my forehead to soothe the sting. 

Oikawa stuffed his hands into his pockets and began walking away. “Later chumps! Don’t butt heads too much!” He snickered, the gradual decrescendo of his shiny shoes leaving more sting than his words or the flick. 

“I officially hate that guy.” Kageyama scowled, his eyes narrowing in on Oikawa. 

“Yeah.. me too.” I huffed. 

And with all that, the introductions are done. I led the way back into the middle of the room, where I had stood alone when I first arrived. But now, I was going to stand there with someone else. 

_A friend._

_Tobio Kageyama, my first friend at Hope’s Peak. While rude and snappy at most times, he didn’t treat me like I was below him for just being “Lucky”. I felt this weird connection to him even though we had only just met. We just kind of… gravitated towards each other._


	3. The only way out

Kageyama and I had made it back to the middle of the room, everyone else scattered around in front of us. 

“There would be no use in standing around like a bunch of baboons. We should get down to business.” Tsukishima advised coldly. Despite his I’m-above-all-of-you attitude, I did agree. I nodded, speaking up. 

“Yeah, didn’t someone say something about bigger problems?” I asked, looking around at all the faces that suddenly snapped their attention to me. Suga gave a deep nod of his head. 

“Hinata, you said you randomly passed out after all this crazy stuff happened right?” Suga questioned, his expression soft and curious. I nodded, focused intently on him. Suga sighed gently, “Well, the same thing happened to all of us.” He said, his voice still laced with the same concern that was almost motherly. My eyebrows immediately furrowed and I cocked my head to the side. 

“Wait, seriously?” I gapped, staring at Suga in disbelief. Daichi planted a large hand on Suga’s shoulder, his expression confused and worried as well. 

“We all lost consciousness after we entered the main hall. Once we woke up, we were inside of a classroom.” Daichi paused, making sure I was following his words, “That’s what happened to you, right?” He asked, his deep voice serious and dripping with concern. I sputtered, my head spinning. There’s no way! I had to be the only one, I was sure it was just me being weird but… all of us? This happened to all of us? 

“That’s—That’s so weird!” I fretted loudly, glancing around at all the eyes starring at me. 

“Exactly! That’s why we’re all freakin’ out!” Kyotani barked angrily, raising his fists and turning red in the face. Terushima groaned from next to him. 

“That’s not the only thing that’s totally jacked about this school! You guys saw those weird-ass windows right?” He whined, dragging his hands down his face. A few people nodded, others just hummed in agreement. 

“Instead of windows there were these big metal plates, just thinking about it makes me claustrophobic!” Asahi shivered, running a hand through his hair. Nishinoya stomped up to him, a salty pout on his face.

“What did we talk about S’ahi? We-don’t-think-about-the-scary-things!” Noya scolded, giving light punches to his shoulder between each word. Asahi sighed an apology, and Noya smiled appreciatively, wrapping his small arms around Asahi’s, giving it a squeeze. This seemed to embarrass Asahi a bit, obvious by the pink flush, but it also seemed to calm him down. 

Huh. Nishinoya and Asahi must’ve gotten close during their introduction, just like a few others. Their dynamic was kinda weird, but they balanced each other well. It was like Nishinoya was Asahi’s (very chaotic—) emotional support animal. 

Oikawa scoffed at the PDA, speaking up after rolling his eyes too, being the total drama queen he is. “In case you haven’t noticed, the front exit is blocked by some sort of metal hatch, but nothing of the sort was there when I first arrived.” He stated, his tone still condescending. 

“Nahhh, lighten up bro! I’m sure this is all part of the school’s orientation thingy!” Tanaka grinned, giving a thumbs up. Oikawa’s eyes narrowed, his lips pressed into a thin line. Does he just do that? I’ve seen him go totally dead faced while staring at people like he’s trying to get a read on them. It must be an “Analyst” thing. 

Tanaka’s cheerful remark did seem to lighten the mood, the tension slowly subsiding. But then, it happened. 

_-Ding Dong, Bing Bong-_

A small monitor at the front of the room began buzzing with black and white static. All of our heads snapped towards the soft white noise. A shadow slowly began to emerge, forming a silhouette of what looked like… a bear?

“Ahem! This is a testing of the school's broadcast system! Can everyone hear me? Excellent!” The voice chirped, cartoonish, and squeaky. It seemed so out of place, so unalarmed and playful… 

I couldn’t help but feel a ball of dread bury itself deep inside my stomach at the sound of it. It was like the kind of feeling you’d get if someone laughed at a funeral. 

“To all incoming students, I’d like to begin the entrance ceremony, at… right now!” The voice squealed, trailing like it was making up its mind as it went on. “Please make your way to the gymnasium as early as possible,” It requested, pausing for another moment, before suddenly blurting, “That’s all, I’ll be waiting…” The voice said, dragging out the “ting” sounding alarmingly ominous with the malicious edge it had to it. The monitor then went black again, all over our eyes turning back to each other. 

“What the actual heck was that? I mean seriously!” Bokuto yelled, flailing his arms around and ending in a defensive stance. Tsukishima scoffed and stepped towards the door to the hallway. 

“Well then, if you’ll excuse me.” He spoke, as cold as always. 

Yaku crossed his arms over his chest, leaning forward and tipping his chin down. “You’re just gonna take off like that?” He chided, glaring at Tsukishima who just kept walking. 

“W-Wait up Tsukki!” Yamaguchi yelped, quickly scurrying over to catch up with his friend. Tsukishima didn’t slow down or even look back at Yamaguchi. 

Lev gasped and raised a finger into the air. “Ohhh! Now I get it! This whole thing was to get us ready for the entrance ceremony!” He exclaimed confidently. I really didn’t believe that was the case though. “Thank god it was a joke! I’d be so freaked out if it wasn’t!” He cheered, placing two proud hands on his hips. He looked down at Yaku, who just shrugged. “I guess we’ll head out too.” Lev smiled, strolling over to the hall. 

Ushijima left without a word, and strangely enough, Tendo was bouncing behind him. What a weird combo… 

“C’mon Asahi! You too Tanaka! Let’s go!” Nishinoya shouted, somehow dragging Asahi out of the room despite their size difference, Tanaka chuckling and following behind. 

Suga and Daichi conversed with each other before Daichi announced, “We’re heading out as well. See you guys there.” He said kindly, both him and Suga offering smiles before walking out. 

One by one everyone left, some announcing it, others leaving silently, but I was frozen where I stood. I just couldn’t get that uneasy feeling out of my mind. I wasn’t the only one, because Kageyama stuck around with me, staying right by my side. 

“This just… isn’t right.” I mumbled, “That announcement was totally weird.” Kageyama sighed and turned towards me. 

“Yeah, but just staying put doesn’t mean we’ll be safe.” He responded bluntly. His eyes met mine and he gave a subtle tilt of his head. “But aren’t you curious to find out what’s going on here? It would just be dumb not to continue on.” He spoke, looking towards the door. He is right. We don’t really have a choice. 

“They said the gym right?” I asked, looking up at Kageyama with newfound determination, my eyes wide and confident. Things aren’t so bad when he’s by my side. Kageyama looked back at me, a very small, almost unnoticeable smile on his lips. With no words, he led the way to the door, me following right behind. 

We made our way back out to the bright green hallway, the black and white checkerboard floor glowing with the green lights. Up ahead was a staircase, but it was blocked off by horizontal bars. Kageyama and I took a left, this hall illuminated with a lemony glow. Two brown doors stood at the end, a grey sign with the word “Gym” on it hung from above. 

Both Kageyama and I took a deep breath, hoping for the best and preparing for the worst. We each gripped a door handle, nodding to each other and swinging them open. We walked in quietly, taking in the Gym.

 _It was huge_. Nothing less than spectacular. It was no joke, being funded by the government really does crazy things, given how state-of-the-art this place is. The walls were shiny pink and white tile, stretching up to the high ceiling and across the long walls. The wooden floors were a yellow-brown color, polished to perfection, where I swear I could see my reflection in it. The floor had a huge black Hope’s Peak crest in the center, right in front of the stage. The stage had stairs on either side, equipped with spotlights and a backdrop, a tall oak tree. The stage had a podium in the middle, a Hope’s Peak crest also plastered on it. 

Everyone had gathered around, making hushed conversation just like in the other room. 

“See? I told you guys this is a totally normal entrance thing! Nothin’ To worry ‘bout! Tanaka exclaimed, laughing with his hands on his hips, his shoulders bouncing up and down. I guess he was right, but if that’s “normal’, then it just shows how not normal we all are. Then, that voice rang out again.

“Howdy, Hey there, Hello! Are we all here? Great! Then let’s get this thing started!” That sickeningly cheerful voice called out, turning all of our attention towards the direction it was coming from, _the podium_.

Suddenly a flash of black and white crossed my eyes as I watched something pop out of the Podium. It sprung out, making a boing noise in the process. What landed on the podium was a black and white (teddy?) bear—the two colors split down the middle, one side white, looking like a normal polar bear-esque design. The other side was black, it’s eye red and in a batwing shape. On the black side, it had a sharp smile, unlike the stoic expression on the white. 

“Huh? A teddy bear?” Nishinoya spoke, perplexed. 

“I’m not a teddy bear!” It shouted, literally offended by Noya’s remark. “I… am… Monokuma!” It exclaimed it’s mouth and body unmoving from the sitting position on the podium. “I am this school’s Headmaster!” Monokuma said happily.

There was no way. What I was seeing before my eyes was so weird, and impossible, it was just… incomprehensible!

“Nice to meet you all!” Monokuma chirped again, still loud and happy. All the anxiety I was carrying through this place turned into downright fear. The happiness of his high pitched voice was just frightening. 

“Don’t be idiots, I bet this thing just has a speaker inside of it.” Oikawa denounced, but even he the great king himself was a bit nervous. He had this shaky edge to his voice like he was trying to play it cool. Monokuma didn’t seem to like what Oikawa said though, his normal eye narrowing and his white side growing red in anger. 

“I told you, I’m not a teddy bear, I am Monokuma, your Headmaster!” Monokuma shouted, sounding totally pissed off, raising his paw with sharp claws poking out. I heard Asahi gasp, so I looked over and saw him trembling. 

“I-It just moved!” he cried, gripping his head in fear. 

Kyotani scoffed, “Seriously, calm the fuck down! It’s just a remote control toy or somethin’!” He snarled. Nishinoya shot him a glare, which made him huff aggressively. 

Monokuma sulked. “A child’s plaything? Really? My system is so advanced that even NASA can’t even recreate it!” He yelled, still appalling me with how he got offended like he was a human. “But don’t make me say stuff that’ll crush NASA’s dreams. I just couldn’t _bear_ that!” Monokuma joked.

Kenma groaned quietly from beside me. 

“Bear? Seriously? You are an idiot…” Kenma mumbled, still tapping away on his game. Kuroo chuckled quietly beside him.

“Now then, let us commence with a memorable entrance ceremony!” Monokuma said happily. “First, let’s talk about what your school life here will be like,” he started, “You are here to represent hope. And to do so, you will all live communal lives inside the confines of this school. Everyone is going to live in harmony together, and you must follow the rules and regulations of the school.” Monokuma concluded but started right back up again. “As for when this communal life ends… It won’t! You’re going to live here till’ you die, this is school life you’ve been assigned.” He cheered. 

“W-What? Un-Until we _die_?” Yamaguchi stuttered, his voice wavering at the last word. Tsukishima rolled his eyes and pushed up his glasses. 

“Shut up Yamaguchi,” he spat, which made Yamaguchi shoot his eyes to the ground. “There is no way you’re believing this bullshit right now.” Tsukishima chided like he was scolding a little kid. Yamaguchi bit his lip and hunched his shoulders like he was trying to hide. Tsukishima huffed and turned his attention back to Monokuma. 

“By the way, you are completely cut off from the entire rest of the world! No more worrying about the dirty, dirty land outside!” Monokuma said. 

“So those metal plates…” I thought out loud, lifting my gaze to meet Monokuma’s, “They’re to keep us trapped in here?” I stated more than asked. Even though Monokuma’s expression never really changed, I felt like it was grinning at me. 

“Yup! That’s exactly what they’re for!” Monkuma answered excitedly, like that was the one question he was waiting for. 

“Come on. This is a really bad joke whoever is behind this.” Kuroo condemned. His eyes were dark and narrowed, a small shadow cast over his forehead. His arms were folded across his chest, in a defensive stance. Tanaka hummed in agreement. 

“Yeah. This prank is total ass! I don't even pull shit like this.” Tanaka huffed. 

“You all decided to go to Hope’s Peak, didn’t you? On your own free will!” Monokuma clapped back. “You’re all a bunch of skeptics. I assure you, this is no lie!” He scolded. Monokuma then brought his two paws in front of his mouth, like he was silently laughing at us. “I did forget to mention something… There is a way for you to leave this school.” He said, his cheerful tone now teetering on threatening. We all stayed silent and waited for him to tell us. “I call this special rule the graduation clause. Since we will all be living together in harmony with this aforementioned communal lifestyle, if someone were to disrupt that harmony, they and they alone would be allowed to graduate.” Monokuma said. 

“What do you mean by ‘Disrupt the harmony’?” Daichi asked cautiously, his arms now defensively crossing over his chest. 

“Puhuhu… well, you know…” Monokuma laughed, his paws lifting up to his mouth again. “If one person were to _murder_ another.” He said darkly.

I blinked once, then twice. And then it registered.

“Murder?!” I yelled.

The atmosphere was heavy. We were all taken aback. Shocked. Appalled. Scared shitless. Even Kenma was nervous. His console was away, and he actually stood at attention, slightly shaking hands gripping his hoodie strings. I looked around, Akaashi’s eyes were wide and slightly panicked, Iwaizumi looked pissed and nervous at the same time, Ushijima had a narrowed line of vision now, his eyes squinted as he observed the room. Tsukishima also scanned the room, wary of any sort of movement, as his eyes immediately snapped there. Even the great king himself, condescending and disdainful, who wore a smile, was starting to wilt. His nose and eyebrows were twitching, and his smile was slowly turning into a poisonous scowl. Daichi and Suga, although trying their bests to remain composed this entire time, were both sweating nervously, looking almost blue in the face. Daichi’s jaw was clenched, Suga’s hands clenched into shaking fists. 

“The rest is up to you guys. Give it your all to achieve the best outcome in the worst way possible.” Monokuma said, his once cheerful tone now ominous. The atmosphere was so dark, so heavy. My blood ran cold.

_“If one person were to murder another.”_

It was so sick. I wanted to deny it, I wanted to continue asking if it was a joke, but I couldn’t anymore. It seemed that was the same for everyone else. We were all dead silent.

“You guys are the symbols of hope ya know,” Monokuma said, his red eye gleaming, “Taking that hope and _murdering_ it, it creates nothing but a shadow of once was, welcoming _despair_ ,” Monokuma spoke, his tone borderline sadistic. “This just makes me so darn excited!” He cackled, holding his stomach. 

“This is serious bullshit,” Tanaka said gruffly, his expression totally pissed off. 

“We get it, dude! You scared us! Now let us go!” Nishinoya shouted, flailing his arms around. Kyotani stomped up to Nishinoya, and pushed him aside, storming over to be face to face with Monokuma. Nishinoya gapped at him, clearly offended, but his eyes followed Kyotani.

“Listen up. Asshole! This shit’s gone way too far! The fuck kinda joke is this?” He shouted, his jaw clenched and one fist raised. Monokuma tilted his head to the side and brought a paw up to his face. 

“A joke? You mean like, your hair?” Monokuma snickered.

Kyotani shook violently with anger, “You fucking—” he shouted, being cut off by a loud boom. It was the sound of the floorboards, as he sprung up and launched himself across the air. He shot at Monokuma, faster than a bullet. 

Kyotani has caught him at his neck, Monokuma squirming and his arms flailing. 

“Gotcha, little shit! Dunno if you’re a toy or a stuffed animal,” He snarled, his voice gruff and shouting, “Either way, I’m gonna rip you to fuckin’ shreds!” He barked, getting all up in Monokuma’s face. 

“Violence against your headmaster is in violation of school rules!” Monokuma squealed fear for some reason in his voice. 

“Shut the fuck up! If you don’t let me outta here I swear to god…” Kyotani shouted, his grip tightening. Monokuma was silent, but a faint and chorusing beeping was heard. “What?! Outta smartass comebacks?” Kyotani growled, veins popping out of his head. Monokuma said nothing again, the beeping only getting louder. “Stop the fuckin’ beeping and say somethin’!” He yelled, clenching his hand around Monokuma’s neck even tighter, causing Monokuma to shake around in his grip. 

“Get rid of it!” Suga shouted, his expression worried, and tone begging. Kyotani was taken aback by what Suga had yelled, sweating nervously, but still pissed off. 

“Hurry up and throw it!” Suga pleaded, his expression now terrified. I couldn’t tell if it was the ferocity that shut Kyotani down like it did, but without a word, he did what he was told. He threw Monokuma, as soon as he left his hands, he… exploded. 

All of us were stunned, some breaths hitching. Kyotani was frozen, his breath coming out jagged. 

“That shit isn’t a joke. It blew the fuck up…” He trailed, his voice still gruff but now quieter, lacking the bite it used to have. There was a gunpowder smell tainting the air, my head throbbing at the faint ringing sound in my ears. When explosions happen in real life, not in movies or whatever… they are mortifying. I had never seen anything like it. 

“That means the teddy bear’s outta business right?” Kuroo asked, his expression serious, but his eyes still hooded. His eyes had a hint of worry in them, almost uncharismatically. 

“I already told ya, I’m not a teddy bear! I’m Monokuma!” An all too familiar voice squawked. Monokuma—or maybe another one—had popped right out of the podium, just like before. 

“Th-There’s another one?!” Bokuto yelled, bringing up his hands in an alert Aikido position. Akaashi flinched beside him, clearly not too happy with his volume. 

“You little shit! You seriously tried to kill me!” Kyotani shouted, the same fire and anger right back in his system. 

Monokuma brought a paw up, sharp claws gleaming. 

“Well yeah, you violated one of the school regulations. Of course, I was serious about killing you.” Monokuma said, his tone condescending. Monokuma’s red eye began to glow, his white side a little red. He looked totally angry. 

“Consider that a warning kiddo! No one at my school is going to get off with a slap on the wrist anymore!” Monokuma growled, his head tilting down. He looked even angrier now. 

“So does this mean there’s a bunch more of you thingies around the school?” Tendo questioned, his eyes wide in curiosity, even bigger than before. His head was tilted far to the side, his shoulders and stomach following, his body bending at the torso. I was seriously confused at how he didn’t fall over. 

“Yes. Monokumas have been placed all around the school. Oh, and don’t forget the surveillance cameras! They’re everywhere!” Monokuma chirped, seeming to be back in his chipper mood, dropping his claws. “You all saw what almost happened to dear Kyotani there! Next time, my punishment won’t be as forgiving…” He said, his tone slowly slipping into ominousness again. 

“That wasn’t even a punishment,” Daichi said, crossing his arms tightly over his chest, “That was just cruel.” He spoke. Daichi did seem very angry, but his tone came off like he was disappointed in Monokuma. Monokuma only laughed in response, his signature “Upupupu” making us all aggravated.

“Now then! To commemorate you all on entering this school, I have a little something for each of you!” Monokuma cheered. He reached behind him and pulled out a bright blue tablet. It had a white Hope’s Peak crest in the middle of it. 

“This is your school handbook! As you can see, it’s fully digital, so we call it the e-Handbook!” Monokuma chirped happily holding the handbook. 

“This is no ordinary handbook when you open it up, it’ll display your name! So make sure you don’t lose yours or get someone else’s because this little gadget is essential to your school life!” Monokuma said, holding the tablet out for us all to see. It looked really expensive and high quality, just like everything in this school. They really don’t say “state-of-the-art" for nothing huh? 

“Make sure you explore this handbook through and through, as it contains all school rules and regulations!” The bear resounded. Monokuma stood up from the podium, reaching behind to present a stack of e-Handbooks. He hopped off the stage and passed them out, each of us getting a dark blue device. There was a small rectangle on top that I assumed was the power button, but I decided against turning it on for now. It seemed everyone else was doing the same. After passing them all out Monokuma made his way back to the stage, climbing up the podium. He reached the top and stood up on it, his paws on his hips. 

“Welp, that brings our ceremony to a close! See ya!” He cackled, before jumping behind the podium and vanishing.

All of us were left stunned. The room was hushed as I glanced around from person to person, desperately praying that someone would break the silence. I had so many worries, so many questions! Not even Kageyama or Tsukishima had something smart to say. We were all just… quiet. But it was who spoke up that kind of shocked me. 

Iwaizumi sighed, adjusting his name tag. 

“There is probably one thing we’re all thinking right now,” he huffed, looking at all of us, “What the actual hell just happened?” He grumbled. 

Oikawa hummed from beside him, fixing the cuffs of his blazer. “It seems as if we only have two options to get out of here,” Oikawa said. A few people stiffened you at those words, knowing exactly what he was talking about. 

“How… I just don’t understand any of this.” Tanaka scowled, scratching his head. 

“We have to live… here… forever?” Lev mumbled, more like a question than anything else. He was scared just as everyone else was sure, but he looked a bit more confused. Lev looked down at Yaku, who quietly nodded. Yaku was the complete opposite of Lev. Yaku was absolutely fuming, with a hint of sadness in his eyes. I felt awful, I had no clue what was happening in his brain. 

“Or kill someone,” Tsukishima added, his expression still completely unreadable. I do know that he was still cold and snobby. The way he just put that out there seemed so insensitive to me. 

“Those are the only two ways to leave that we know of right now. There has got to be a different way.” Daichi assured, calm, and collected. I had absolutely no clue how he managed to stay cool, but it was soothing nonetheless. 

“Well Genius,” Tendo began, his tone bitter, “I suppose you have the strength to rip off all of those metal plates then?” Tendo hissed, gesturing towards the bolted up windows around us. Daichi seemed taken aback by his remark, but brushed it off and shook his head in disappointment. I felt bad. Daichi was trying his best to be optimistic and keep everyone in line. 

“He does have a point…” Yamaguchi mumbled looking down once he saw all of the eyes that swarmed to him. “Those things are near impossible to get off.” He sighed fiddling with his apron. 

“That’s totally true little man! I tried to pry that stuff off, I even tried kickin’ it! But it wouldn’t budge!” Bokuto shouted (geez does he ever stop yelling—) seemingly amazed that those tactics didn’t do the trick. 

Terushima’s eyebrows were furrowed, “If that doesn’t work then obviously the killing stuff would need to happen… but no one is actually going to do that. Right?” He pondered. 

Asahi let out a shaky breath. “It wouldn’t be the craziest thing to happen. We were abducted out of nowhere and shoved into this place disguised as a school…” He muttered, picking at his nails nervously. Suga huffed from beside him, raising his arm. 

“Negativity, be gone!” Suga shouted, giving Asahi a good jab in the side. Asahi grunted and doubled over, holding his stomach. Nishinoya patted him on the back but snickered while doing so. 

Suga straightened up and looked at all of us. He had a troubled expression, almost looking guilty of something. “It must be a lie you guys, it just doesn’t make any sense—“ Suga was cut off by another person. 

It was Kuroo. “But it’s not like there’s anything we can do. All we can do is stay here and live that ‘communal’ lifestyle or kill each other.” Kuroo said bluntly. 

Yaku spoke up next. “Yeah, but it could be fake, that’s a total possibility here—“ Yaku was also cut off. 

Tsukishima tch’d, “It doesn’t matter if it’s real or if it’s fake. The real problem at hand is, is there anyone who is seriously considering the latter?” Tsukishima asked. 

And to that, nobody had a response. As much as I hate Tsukishima, he really has a point. We’re all confused and scared and in denial but what if someone is actually going to consider hurting someone? What if someone is actually going to _kill someone?_

I looked up at Kageyama, he had been quiet this entire time. I was actually starting to get worried. He looked deep in thought, his face pale and his eyebrows knit together. I was fully worried now. Just what was he thinking?

No one was going to kill each other right? That’s just so wrong, there must be another way. I looked around at all these people I had just met, all of these people I barely know. I could almost taste the hostility and smell the tension in this room. Everyone stared at each other like they were trying to figure out one another’s thoughts. 

_“You must kill someone if you want to leave.”_

Monokuma’s words had struck us all like bullets. Each of us filled with savage thoughts, viscous ideas planted deep inside our brains. We all became suspicious of each other. By force we had to wonder, _“Is someone going to betray us?”_

That was where it had all begun. My new school life. This school which had been brought up from thin air, to raise the people’s hope high…

This is not a school of hope.

_This is a school of despair._


	4. The rules of a killing game

_“You must kill someone if you want to leave.”_

That phrase kept running through my mind, the fear, paralyzing me, making its course around my body. The atmosphere was heavy, pressing me down like a weight on my shoulders and neck. The only thing that melted me out of the frozen confines of that phrase was his words. 

“What are you going to do now? Just glare at each other?” He asked rhetorically, his voice almost disappointed. My eyes snapped over from the spot that had been fixated on the ground, meeting those all too familiar shiny shoes. My eyes roved up his lean body, passing his torso and the hand on his hip. I met his deep chocolate eyes, his gaze showing no signs of mockery, just seriousness. I hate to admit it, but he’s right. Those simple words, more statements than questions, helped us all snap back into reality. 

“Oikawa is right… Even when you’re afraid you need to step forward! You need to always keep pushing, no matter how scary or clueless you are!” I shouted, a rush of determination and pride, perhaps a gift from Oikawa. A few eyes lit up, even more people listening than before. Lev nodded, hastily. 

“Yeah!” He exclaimed, that determination in his eyes as well. But it quickly subsided as he scratched the back of his neck sheepishly. “But exactly… _what_ are we going to do?” He asked, hesitant of his own words. Yaku growled from beside him. 

“Look for a way out you dumb skyscraper!” He snapped, looking up at Lev angrily. His tone wasn’t insulting though, it was a lot more scolding. 

Kageyama huffed and crossed his arms. I looked up at him, he thankfully looked a lot less anxious and in thought, but I could tell he was still angry. 

“We need to find whoever is controlling that dumbass bear and get out of here,” Kageyama muttered. He actually looked pretty cool when he was being serious. 

“Before we do that, w-we should take a look at the handbook!” Yamaguchi blurted, still looking panicked. A few skeptical looks caused Yamaguchi to shrink, but Suga stepped in and put a reassuring hand on his shoulder. 

“He’s right. Let’s all do it just to be safe.” Suga smiled gently, effectively soothing Yamaguchi. 

“I agree,” Kuroo butted in, “If we all look around without a clue of the rules, something like that could happen again.” He added. His point was fair, and it seemed to remind Kyotani of what could have been. Kyotani’s expression was more grumpy than pissed, and he cursed under his breath at the memory. 

“Fineee, let’s check the stupid rules…” Terushima drawled, resting his arm on Semi’s shoulder, despite Semi being a little taller. Semi just sighed and nodded. 

I looked at the tablet in my hands, taking a moment before turning it on. The screen came to life, a soft blue background with a white Hope’s Peak crest. My full name faded in, right in the middle. From the menu, I selected the “school regulations” option. 

Number one, _“Students may reside only within the school. Leaving campus is an unacceptable use of time.”_

Number two, _“Nighttime is from ten p.m to seven a.m. Some areas are off-limits at night so please exercise caution. This will exclude ultimate labs unless chosen to be locked by the owner.”_

I paused and cocked my head to the side. What the heck is an ultimate lab? It sounds like something Kuroo would have, being the scientist and stuff, but maybe we all have one? I shook the thoughts out of my head and kept reading. 

Number three, _“During night time you must sleep in a dorm. Failure to do so will result in punishment.”_

I nodded, that one made sense, and I was relieved to see that this rule only applied during night time. 

Number four, _“With minimal restrictions, you are allowed to explore Hope’s Peak as you see fit.”_

Oh cool, maybe then we can find out what these Ultimate lab thingies are. I swiped to the next number. 

Number five, _“Violence against Headmaster Monokuma is strictly forbidden, as is the destruction of surveillance cameras.”_

I clutched my tablet tighter when I reached the next number. 

Number six, _“Anyone who kills a fellow student and becomes ‘blackened’ will graduate, unless they are discovered.”_

I shivered. Monokuma seriously put this in the rules? No one is going to kill each other, so he should just give up now. We are going to get out in a different way!

I got to the final one. 

Number seven, _“Additional school rules may be added if necessary.”_

I gently pressed the power button and looked up from my e-Handbook. A small pit in my stomach formed from the mention of murder again. I felt sick. Looking at everyone around me, I was guessing they all had the same reaction. 

“This thing is kinda lame…” I heard Kenma mumble, shutting it off disappointedly, “It didn’t even have any games…” He sighed. Kuroo just laughed and shook his head. 

“Guys, lighten up! We’re gonna find our way out of the crummy place, and we’re gonna do it together!” Nishinoya thundered, his hands balling into fists. This lightened the mood a bit. Tanaka smiled toothily next to him, nodding in agreement. Most of us smiled or stayed silent with his remark, but Kyotani seemed to have none of it. 

“This is bullshit! You think I’m gonna follow some rules? What the hell even are these?” He roared, absolutely furious. 

Oikawa gave a shit-eating grin, staring at Kyotani with this dangerous look in his eyes. “Then I’d like to see you wander around the school without a care, we’ll see what happens then.” Oikawa threatened, with a sly tilt of his head. Kyotani looked back at him cautiously, stepping back defensively. He stared at Oikawa with a look of hate in his eyes. He looked like he was going to go absolutely feral. Before Kyotani could rebut, Ushijima put a hand on his shoulder, effectively causing Kyotani to shut down. Ha, if only he could do that with Monokuma. Ushijima glanced at him, and Kyotani looked at the floor. Ushijima then looked up at Oikawa, who was still smirking and just stared at him with his normal blank seriousness. 

“Refrain from fighting. This is what the bear wants.” Ushijima spoke, his voice monotone. Oikawa only laughed quietly, as if he was mocking Ushijima. Then, there was a dreadfully familiar flash of red. 

He peeked out from Ushijima’s back, clutching his jacket smiling wickedly.

“Personally, I’d really like to see what happens when someone breaks the rules!” Tendo chirped, his eyes wide, absolutely brazen. Ushijima looked down at his side, and in turn, Tendo twisted his body to smile up at him, his mouth closed and cat-like, his eyes closed as well. Ushijima simply hummed, not smiling back. Tendo grumbled, slithering out of his place from Ushijima’s side. 

Daichi cleared his throat and stepped forwards. “Anyways, in regards to the rules, what do you think number six means exactly?” He asked, his tone serious. 

I thought back to number six. 

_“Anyone who kills a fellow student and becomes ‘blackened’ will graduate, unless they are discovered.”_

I looked at Daichi. “You’re talking about the last part right? Where it says _unless they are discovered_?” He nodded and I looked down at the tablet in my hands. “I was confused about that too,” I added.

“It’s saying that if you want to graduate,” Oikawa started, punctuating it with his arms crossing, “You need to kill someone without anyone finding out it was you.” He stated gravely. 

“B-But why? Why do we need to do that?” Yamaguchi cried, gripping on to the edge of his apron. I felt really bad, Yamaguchi had been so scared this entire time, and nothing seemed to calm us down. Suga stepped in again, quickly noticing his stress. 

“I don’t think there’s anything to worry about—“ Suga tried to reassure, but Tsukishima cut him off. 

“Just worry about the rules explained in the e-Handbook. It’s quite stupid to wait for others to decide what to do for them.” Tsukishima quipped, aiming the rude statement at all of us, but seeming to hit Yamaguchi the hardest. Yamaguchi looked to the ground. 

“Sorry, Tsukki…” He mumbled. Gosh, why does he hang around him? Tsukishima seriously needs to get the stick out of his butt and be nicer!

“Hey, Hey, Hey! For now, let’s forget about all that murder stuff and explore this school! We know all the rules and whatever, so let’s part-ay!” Bokuto shouted proudly, both of his fists in the air. 

Akaashi deadpanned. He silently grabbed Bokutos arms and lowered them, shaking his head. “What?” Bokuto asked, clearly not getting the memo. Akaashi blinked slowly, obviously annoyed with his antics. “No partying?” Bokuto asked sadly, his hair deflating.

I guess that’s why he didn’t talk much recently, he seems to absolutely shut down when he gets the slightest bit upset.

Akaashi shook his head. “Bokuto, please calm down a little.” He sighed, holding the hands he took down. Bokuto groaned and looked away from Akaashi.

“I am calm!” He yelled, but he was whiny like a little kid. Akaashi sighed, shaking his head again. Bokuto dropped his whiny attitude like a hot plate, and wrapped an arm around Akaashi, pulling him in close. 

“Ah, but you love me! Now come on, I wanna explore this place!” Bokuto chirped. 

“If we’re going to look around, I’m going alone,” Oikawa spoke, fixing his blazer. Confusion rose all around, eyebrows furrowing. Iwaizumi spoke up. 

“Crappy-kawa, don’t be an idiot. It’s dangerous to go alone.” Iwaizumi scoffed. Oikawa didn’t react like last time though. 

“Well Iwa-Chan, I don’t really care. Someone very well could be planning to murder me as we speak, so why the hell would I sit here and make it easier?” Oikawa spat. Iwa growled, and got in Oikawa’s face, grabbing him from the front of his shirt. He yanked Oikawa towards him. 

“If you wanna be a dumbass, be my guest!” Iwaizumi shouted angrily. Oikawa didn’t even flinch and took his hands off of him. 

“I’ll accept that invitation.” Oikawa sassed, walking away from a shocked and pissed Iwaizumi. Oikawa was stopped by an arm though. Kyotani’s arm. 

“Just where the fuck do you think you’re going?” Kyotani hissed, looking up at Oikawa. 

Oikawa smiled, the fakeness of it almost a threat. “If you wouldn’t mind, I’d like to leave.” Oikawa grinned, all too sweetly. Kyotani jabbed Oikawa in the chest, causing him to stumble a little.

“If you think you’re gonna get to do whatever you want you’ve got another thing coming—“ Kyotani shouted, stomping towards Oikawa, but I decided to intervene out of some weird instinct. 

“Guys, please! Ushijima was right about what he said before, this fighting is going to get out of control—“ I sputtered, but this seemed to anger Kyotani further. 

“The fuck you just say? Are you some kinda goodie-goodie lil’ bitch?” Kyotani barked, his anger completely shifting to me. I sputtered again, trying to think of something to say—

“Who do you think you are huh? You think you’re my fuckin’ dad?” Kyotani barked, his spit literally spraying at me. 

“N-No! I was just—“ I yelped desperately trying to save my own ass while everyone watched in shock. 

“Fuck you!” Kyotani yelled. 

_WHAM_

He punched me…

...And I flew back in a heap.

It was like some kind of cartoon or comic book. I didn’t even see the punch coming until it was right in my face. One second I was standing there on the ground, and the next I was flying through the air from the sheer force of Kyotani’s fist. I guess that I had forgotten the kind of people I was stuck here with. I had lost all common sense. With all these wild people and talents and personalities, and these… these ultimates! It had totally freaked me out and blown my fuses. So I guess I shouldn’t be surprised that something like that happened. That was my last thought before I drifted out of consciousness. 

When I had finally opened my eyes again, I was somewhere completely new. 

“Mm… ngh… huh?” I mumbled, rubbing my eyes to try and get adjusted to the light and the new scenery. As if it was a routine, I woke up in yet another room that I had never seen before. 

“Okay so… where am I now?” I asked out loud, though I was sure no one else was in here. I wiggled around and felt something soft and plush beneath me, so I sat up to find out it was a bed. 

I was in a big room, the walls red with pink floral design. The floor was blue, occasionally checkered with a darker shade. There were basic things around the room, a desk and a chair, a wardrobe, and a smaller circular table with a key and—oh! My tablet from earlier.

I stood up from the bed, noticing a camera hanging in the corner and metal plates bolted to the walls just like the classroom and gym. I walked over to the circular table, picking up the key, and examining it. A small key chain hung from it. It read, “Shoyo Hinata” so I assumed it was mine. Maybe it was the key to this room? I tucked it into my pocket, for later. There were two doors, one near the bed, and towards the middle of the room. I assumed the one in the middle was the exit, so I decided to check out the one closer to the bed. 

I moved closer to investigate, opening the door and walking inside. 

It was a bathroom, a sink, a toilet, and a shower. Although the bathroom was bare and kind of small, the shower was all glass, completely walk in, taking up half of the room. There was even a detachable showerhead! Maybe to some of these ultimates this was standard stuff, but to me, this was super cool! Like something at a deluxe five-star hotel. Over the marble sink was a tall mirror. I gave myself finger guns, smiling at my appearance before proceeding to walk out with that huge bruise—

Wait, what? Bruise?!

I quickly scrambled back to the mirror, noticing a huge bruise on my cheek. Oh right… Kyotani totally kicked my ass. I groaned at myself, the nasty bruise almost as bad as a “kick me” sign. I left the bathroom again. 

I decided to go back to the table that had my e-Handbook, picking it up. I wanted to check over the rules again, maybe I could find out something about this room. I swiped through the regulations and stopped at number three. 

_“During night time you must sleep in a dorm. Failure to do so will result in punishment.”_

Oh. This must be my dorm then. So that answers my question. But that brings another. What is everyone else up to right now? I guess there was only one way to find out. Get out of here. 

I rushed over to the door in the middle of my dorm, trying to be quick to catch up with everyone else. But someone was already waiting for me. I twisted the nob fast, swinging open the door—

_WHAM_

“Shit! Hinata you dumbass!” A voice barked. I looked down to see Kageyama fallen back on the floor, clutching his head. My initial reaction was confusion, but then I squealed when I realized what had happened. 

“Kageyama? I’m so sorry! I didn’t—I didn’t—“ 

“Be quiet dumbass. Now help me up!” Kageyama hissed. 

I extended a hand for him and helped him up, it was a little hassle because of our size difference. Kageyama huffed when he was finally up. 

“How are you feeling Hinata? Kyotani got you good earlier. Hell of a hit if I’ve ever seen one.” Kageyama asked, the question actually genuine. I was surprised to see him offer me any kind of sympathy. 

“Besides the bruise, I’m feeling okay,” I answered, rubbing the back of my neck. 

“Yeah, we had Iwaizumi check you over, him being a Medic and whatever. He said you were okay but I wanted to make sure.” Kageyama admitted, and I was even more shocked. Did Kageyama get punched too?

“Thank you. So what are you doing here still?” I questioned, genuinely curious about why he didn’t check up on me and leave. 

“I actually came to get you. After you had passed out, everyone decided to do their own thing. A few of us have ‘ultimate labs’, but we haven’t really searched the school yet. Everyone’s waiting at the dining hall.” Kageyama explained. I nodded in understanding. Those ultimate labs sound really cool! 

“If you’re feeling up to it short-ass, we can go.” Kageyama prompted. I scoffed and rolled my eyes. Is he serious?

“Of course I’m feeling up to it, don’t be stupid, Bakageyama! I retorted, getting annoyed. 

“Hey! Who are you calling Baka, dumbass?” Kageyama growled, starting to get in my face. Looks like nice Kageyama is totally out the window. 

I huffed grabbing his wrist just like I did when we first met. “You are so annoying! All you do is nag, blah, blah, blah! You hear that? That’s you!” I shouted in irritation. 

“Shut up! At least I can take a punch you little gremlin!” He yelled back. I halted my movements, I bent my knees and sprung up, effectively reaching the top of his head and giving him a karate chop. Kageyama winced. 

“Ow! God, let’s just go!” Kageyama huffed, stomping away. I smiled, at my argument well won. I did catch onto Kageyama’s little mumbles though. I was surprised to hear him grumble, “How the hell did he even jump that high?” Totally confused. I guess he was full of surprises today. 

When we got to the dining hall everyone was already waiting there for us. There was a quiet chatter amongst everyone, all sitting at one long table together. Most people stayed with the ones they were most familiar with, but some of them were mixed in with each other. 

I took a look at the clock in the corner, taken aback when I had learned what time it was. Eight p.m, seriously?! Kageyama seemed to already know what I was thinking, saying “You were passed out for a long time.” I nodded and we made our way over to the table. 

“Oh! Hinata, Kageyama! Nice to see you two!” Suga exclaimed sweetly. Daichi nodded from beside him. 

“How are you feeling Hinata? You took quite the blow.” Daichi asked, still smiling but I could tell he was still concerned. 

I rubbed the back of my neck sheepishly, a blush rising on my cheeks. “I-I’m okay really! I’m feeling totally better now.” I answered, super embarrassed that Daichi and Suga are treating me like their child. There were relieved smiles and sighs all around. It was reassuring to know that some people actually cared about my wellbeing. 

I saw Kyotani lean over from his spot at the table and looked at me. I gulped and only stared back, unsure of what to do. 

“Hey, um… sorry about earlier.” He apologized, looking away from me. “I was just fed up, thas’ all.” He added his eyes narrowing at the ground. I didn’t know if I should be scared of him, or his face—of the fact that he was apologizing—to me! Me of all people. I let out a breath I didn’t even know I was holding. 

“It’s okay! I-I understand!” I squeaked, wanting to slap myself in the face for sounding so timid. There was just something always unshakeable about Kyotani, it wasn’t even about how he had punched me in the face, or how people called him “mad dog” or how his honey brown eyes bore into your soul every time he looks at you—

Okay. Maybe it was all of those things. He was just a scary dude, like a lot of the other guys here. 

“U-Um, guys!” A shy voice came from the end of the table, where Yamaguchi and Tsukishima sat. 

“I was thinking that I could maybe do something for everyone, to bring us together! My talent isn’t that great, but if we enjoy some cake together maybe the practice might be worth it.” Yamaguchi offered. Nishinoya and Tanaka immediately stood at attention at cake, and excitedly shook each other around. Yamaguchi laughed, a light blush dusting his cheeks. 

“We can meet here at around noon, my ultimate lab is open so I’ll have everything I need.” Yamaguchi finished, giving a small smile. 

“That’s so sweet of you, Yamaguchi.” Suga praised, reaching over to pat his head. Yamaguchi lit up, giggling softly, slightly leaning into Suga’s touch. Tsukishima looked to the side, his face heating up, and I still couldn’t tell if it was anger or what, and crossed his arms at the display. 

Suga smiled again, retracting back into his seat. He said, “So that brings us to our first order of business…”

“What did everyone find?” Daichi asked, finishing Suga’s sentence. Nishinoya immediately piped up, slamming his hands on the table. 

“Me and Asahi found his ultimate lab! It’s this cool-ass library and its huuuge!” Nishinoya chirped, demonstrating with his hands. Asahi chuckled, looking up at Noya in admiration. 

“I thought you said you didn’t like books?” Asahi teased, causing Nishinoya to blush furiously. 

“Y-Yeah, well, it’s—it‘s cooler when it’s with you!” Nishinoya blurted back, waving his hands around dramatically. Now it was Asahi’s turn to blush, covering his face from a now snickering Nishinoya. 

“Well, I’m glad you’re interested now!” Asahi shot back from behind his hands. This prompted Nishinoya to laugh harder at Asahi’s expense. Tanaka leaned against the table, his arms crossed. 

“Noya, dude, you’re gonna give Asahi wrinkles if you keep doing that!” Tanaka warned loudly, making Suga and Daichi start laughing as well. I didn’t really understand why it was so funny, but I was glad we were getting along. 

When Asahi had cooled down a bit, he took his face out of his hands. He cleared his throat and fixed up his flyaways. 

“Since the library is open everyone is welcome, always. It’s a pretty peaceful hangout spot.” Asahi offered, gaining some smiles in return. 

“The same thing goes for my lab little dudes! It’s so totally cool, it looks just like my family’s dojo! You guys really need to see it!” Bokuto gushed loudly, doing some chopping motions and almost whacking Akaashi in the face. Bokuto’s lab sounds super cool, but I really don’t wanna be put in a headlock again…

Terushima put his hands behind his head and leaned back further into his chair, propping his feet up on the table. He smirked, a dangerous glint in his eyes, “My lab is open as well if you wanna get your ass handed to you,” he paused, ruffling Semi’s hair causing him to groan, ”Just like Semi-Baby, then be my guest.” He teased, Semi shooting him a glare. I guess he was still sore about his loss. 

“We can have lots of fun together.” Terushima smiled with his teeth and tongue out, his nose scrunched. That tongue ring shining in the bright light of the dining hall still managed to give me shivers. He winked and Semi, who, for some reason, gave him a challenging grin. Was he planning on gambling again? 

Kuroo chuckled. “That’s great that so many labs are open. Anyone else?” He asked his arms folded over his chest. 

Yaku spoke up this time. “Mine is open too. It’s this sort of courtyard thing, it’s really nice to get some sun and fresh air. And of course, there’s a ton of flowers, and plants and whatnot.” Yaku explained, “I’ve gotten a ton of flowers I’ve never worked with before, so I’m really excited to make some arrangements.” Yaku smiled, this adoration in his eyes, his hands laced together and squashed against his cheek. It was really cool to see him so happy over something, considering half the time he was feisty and yelling at Lev. Lev just had to spoil that—because he opened his mouth. 

“You’re really cute when you talk about flowers, Yaku!” Lev gushed, adoration in his eyes as well. Yaku quickly shook out of his lovey-dovey mood and quickly recovered by delivering a chop to the back of Lev’s head, making him yelp. Lev whined rubbing his head. Yaku grumbled angrily, “Maybe if you didn’t say stupid things I wouldn’t hit you!” He scolded, pouting at Lev. Lev seemed to lighten up at this, “I’m sorry Yaku!” He giggled, making Yaku smile as well, but looked away to hide it. 

“Mine is also open,” Kyotani gruffed, “It’s got a lot of practice equipment, so stop by if you want I guess,” He shrugged, “You’ll get to see the greatest in action,” Kyotani added, a dangerous smirk spreading across his face. 

No one spoke up for a few seconds so Daichi did instead. 

“That must be all then. As for our discoveries,” Daichi said glancing over at Suga, “We found staircases heading somewhere, but they seemed to be blocked off. So, as of right now, we only have access to this first floor.” He explained, looking back at Suga, enabling him to share his finds. 

“I ended up searching in here and found that the kitchen is abundant in food supplies. There was a walk-in fridge and freezer, practically overflowing with various foods and ingredients. I remember Monokuma saying something about them being restocked daily, He just kind of randomly popped up while I was looking around. I’m positive we’ll have enough food to last us two lifetimes.” Suga spoke, calm, and self sure. He got nods and hums in return. Suga rubbed the back of his neck and simpered, “I’ve cooked for big families before, so I wouldn’t mind making meals for everyone.” He said kindly, his smile soft. 

“That’s so nice Suga!” I chirped, an excited smile on my face. 

“It’s really nothing Hinata, I’ll be happy to cook for you all,” Suga responded sweetly. Soft snores caused my eyes to glide over in the direction I heard them. It was Kenma, he had fallen asleep leaning on Kuroo’s shoulder. 

“Now that that's all settled, why don’t we all start heading to bed? I’m sure Kenma would appreciate that.” Kuroo smirked, patting Kenma’s head gently. There were hums and nods of agreement. Everyone pretty tuckered out from the long day of introductions, monochrome bears and scary rules. Not even Nishinoya or Tanaka could say something, their usual energetic selves absolutely drained. Bokuto was as well, whining to Akaashi about how badly he needed to sleep. 

“That sounds like a good idea,” Daichi agreed, looking around at all of us, “Well then, we’ll meet here tomorrow. Goodnight everyone.” Daichi said quietly, pushing his chair out, and tucking it back in. Suga nodded and stood up with him. 

“Yeah, sleep well everyone,” Suga added, standing up and leaving with Daichi. Slowly everyone else started to leave, Kuroo carrying Kenma bridal style as he slept soundly, Asahi carrying Nishinoya as well, giving the sleepy daredevil a piggyback ride. There were tired babbles between a few people, Bokuto still complaining to Akaashi. It was kind of comical to see Bokuto, Tanaka, and Noya so quiet and tired. But I figured everyone has their limits. 

I watched everyone disperse from the dining hall, leaving me and Kageyama left. 

“Are you ready to call it a day Hinata?” Kageyama asked gruffly, sleepiness starting to take its effect on him. 

I hesitated for a moment, sadly looking at my surroundings and really missing home. I sighed, “Yeah. I’m ready Kageyama.” I mumbled. He looked like he wanted to say something but he never did. We walked back to our dorms quietly, said goodnight, and went inside.

I dreaded going back inside my dorm, sure it was mine, the door plate had my name, and so did the key, but it didn’t feel good. This place wasn't home. I had no clue how I was gonna get to sleep. I was so homesick, I wondered how Mom and Natsu were. I felt like crap trying to get comfortable in this bed, knowing that Natsu won’t be at my door in the morning. 

_-Ding Dong, Bing Bong-_

It was the little jingle from earlier. The noise came from a small screen near my bathroom door. Static glittered across the screen for a brief moment, then the Hope’s Peak crest, and then Monokuma appeared, seated in a black chair, his face leaning in his paw. There were tons of screens behind him, depicting various places around the school. So those cameras are seriously real. 

“Ahem! This is a school announcement. It is now ten p.m. Which means it is officially night time! Well then, good night, sleep tight, don’t let the bed bugs bite…” Monokuma said ominously. The connection then cut out, the screen returning to its flat black state. 

I sighed and flopped back down onto the bed. My eyes closed right away, as soon as my head hit the pillow. I really didn’t feel comfortable sleeping here, but I was just utterly exhausted. It was like I spent the whole day sitting an inch from a tv screen, and watched a marathon. My eyes stung and felt heavy, so I couldn’t really help the drowsiness that came with it. 

I just decided to deal with it, and try to get some sleep. I turned to my side and curled into myself. There was truly no way to suddenly accept the situation we’d been shoved into. 

That was how the curtain closed on my first day at Hope’s Peak Academy. Soon enough, I had drifted off to sleep. Maybe it was too much to hope that I would wake up, and be home, and this crazy mess would all be a dream, and as lame as that conclusion would be, I’d be one hundred percent fine with it. 

But of course,

_That was wishful thinking._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 𝚁𝙴𝙼𝙰𝙸𝙽𝙸𝙽𝙶 𝚂𝚃𝚄𝙳𝙴𝙽𝚃𝚂: 𝟸𝟸


	5. Embarrassing Memories and Shameful Secrets

_-Ding Dong, Bing Bong-_

I groaned at the loud noise, rolling over to my other side, and cracking my eyes open. The monitor was on again. Monokuma sat in the same spot, the same screens in the background. 

“Good morning, students! It is seven a.m, and night time is officially over. Time to rise and shine!” Monokuma cheered. 

I sighed and rubbed the sleep out of my eyes, swinging my legs over the side of the bed. 

I was so tired last night that I ended up falling asleep in my hoodie and pants. I shrugged and walked over to the wardrobe, only to find identical copies of my outfit in there. I didn’t mind, and hey, at least they were clean, but it was really weird that I had to wear the same outfit. And, how did they even get this stuff? I shook my head and just grabbed a clean sweatshirt and pants, before changing. 

Once I had my clothes on, I smoothed my hair in the bathroom mirror—which ultimately did nothing—considering the fluffy and wild state my hair was always in. I didn’t mind it though. 

I remembered Suga saying that he would make us breakfast, so I tried to be quick and speed-walked out the door, thankfully not hitting Kageyama this time. 

While walking through the dorm hallway, I saw Kenma trudging sleepily towards the dining hall, the usual console in his hand. I cheerfully said good morning and got a little wave in return. He never looked up from his game.

Asahi was in the hall as well, up and bright, while Noya was grumbling incoherent angry things into his shoulder. Asahi happily gave him the piggyback ride, him saying good morning, saying it for Nishinoya too. I laughed at his sour attitude, saying good morning back. We made our way down the small hallway, the smell of Suga’s cooking was absolutely mouth-watering. 

Once we were inside the dining hall, I got a look at the early birds. 

Suga, Kageyama, Daichi, Kuroo, Akaashi, Ushijima, Semi, Iwaizumi, Yamaguchi and Yaku. 

Suga was still cooking, Daichi by his side passing him condiments and seasoning. Kageyama was already chowing on what had been put out, and he was eating quite aggressively for how early it was. Akaashi, Yaku, Ushijima, Semi, Yamaguchi, and Iwaizumi were eating lightly, far less grub on their plate than Kageyama, and definitely a lot less aggressive. 

Asahi gently put Nishinoya down and scurried over to assist Daichi and Suga, graciously bringing over more trays of food. Nishinoya yawned and stretched, seemingly out of his grumpy mood. He sat down, cracking his knuckles. 

Kageyama paused to chew after shoving more Onigiri into his mouth. He looked up and made eye contact with me, rolling his eyes when he did. 

“Took you long enough to join us, Dumbass,” Kageyama said, muffled by the food in his mouth. I frowned, glaring at Kageyama. 

“I woke up right when the announcement played! Don’t even start!” I countered. It was way too early for his rudeness! I still decided to sit down next to him though. I got a plate and gathered some food on it, happily beginning to eat and savoring Suga’s excellent cooking.

“Akaashi!” Came a whine from the doorway. Akaashi didn’t budge, only glancing up briefly at the voice. 

“Yes, Bokuto?” He asked quietly, continuing to eat. 

“You said you were gonna wake me up!” Bokuto sobbed, all disheveled, still in the midst of tying his belt to his Judo Uniform. 

“I did, and you told me five more minutes,” Akaashi paused, looking back up from his food, “Several times.” He said plainly, but it had scolding edge to it. Bokuto gasped and jumped back, his hands flying into the air. 

“What?! No way!” He yelled, for some reason shocked by his own actions. He looked pretty upset like he was going to go into another emo-mode.

Akaashi winced at his volume, and quietly pulled out the chair next to him, patting it in a silent invitation for him to come and sit. Bokuto brightened right back up, bounding over to Akaashi excitedly. Akaashi pushed a plate over to Bokuto, I guess he had made him one while Bokuto was still sleeping. 

Then came in a drowsy Tanaka, a bouncy as ever Tendo, a sleepy but sly Terushima, a Kyotani that definitely woke up on the wrong side of the bed, and a disoriented Lev. 

Lev stumbled up to the doorway, looking kind of disheveled. 

“Nice timing, Skyscraper.” Yaku snapped, frowning at Lev. 

“I got lost, I-I swear! This place is huge!” Lev sputtered, shaking his hands in front of him. 

Yaku rolled his eyes, “Whatever Lev. Get over here and eat before I kick you.” He grumbled. Lev had a puppy-like pout on his face but complied anyway. 

Tsukishima arrived a bit later, his expression cold and completely uninterested with everyone. 

“Good morning Tsukki!” Yamaguchi chirped, running up to him and handing him a smaller plate. Tsukishima took the plate—a little confused—so Yamaguchi spoke up again.

“I know you’re a light eater so I made you a smaller plate… I hope that’s okay!” Yamaguchi explained. Tsukishima’s eyes widened a tiny bit, sucking in a small breath from his nose, and mumbling a “thank you” to Yamaguchi. His face turned a little pink, and he looked upset when he quietly sat down next to Yamaguchi, who just continued to chat happily. He seemed more relaxed and in tune today, which made me happy. 

A little later than that, shiny shoes, long legs, and flamboyant strides caught my attention. 

_Oikawa._

I scowled when I caught the smirk on his face. Oikawa opened his mouth to say something—presumably a snark-ass remark, but someone beat him to it.

“So the king arrives,” Iwaizumi growled, his gaze harsh, “Nice of you to join us.” He said sarcastically, his eyes practically burning holes into Oikawa’s. 

“Iwa-chaaaan!” Oikawa whined, (much like Bokuto,) “You ruined my totally cool entrance!” He complained, his shoulders slumping. 

“Where the hell were you anyways?” Iwaizumi barked, his eyebrows further knit, his eyes narrowed. 

“I was doing some investigating on my own, but it doesn’t concern any of you here,” Oikawa answered sharply, rolling his eyes and shrugging. 

Even though Iwaizumi looked just about ready to snap, Oikawa sat down next to him anyways, taking care to make sure it was dramatic and grand enough for him. He slid the seat out slowly and sat, swinging one leg to cross over the other, his arms sitting on the armrests, and his hands folded in his lap. Iwa scoffed at the display but shoved a plate over to Oikawa, who took it like he just offered him a ring down on one knee. 

Now that everyone was finally here, Asahi, Suga, and Daichi got to sit down and enjoy the food as well. Daichi cleared his throat, catching our attention.

“Let’s all thank Suga for this food, okay?” Daichi spoke, which prompted Suga to blush wildly, and sputter phrases like, “It’s okay!”, “It’s nothing!”, “You don’t have to!”, but we ignored him. 

“Thanks for the food!” We exclaimed collectively, and I was surprised to see people like Ushijima and Tsukishima say something, even if they just muttered it. Suga laughed sheepishly, rubbing at the back of his neck. 

We all began or resumed eating our breakfast. The atmosphere was tranquil and the food was amazing. Quiet conversations were active throughout the room, with even Bokuto being respectful of his volume. For a second I felt at peace and enjoyed my breakfast. 

_For a second._

_-Ding Dong, Bing Bong-_

Just like the one in my room, a small tv screen hung from the wall, blaring the obnoxious tune. It was Monokuma again. The same chair, the same monochrome bear, and the same screens behind him. 

“Hiya again, Students! I have a very special announcement to make!” Monokuma exclaimed his paws in the air. “ I’d like everyone to meet in the gymnasium A-S-A-P! We’re gonna have ourselves a pep rally!” Monokuma cackled, before the screen cut to black. The chatter stopped as well as the eating. Once again the atmosphere was heavy, the silence a reminder of our fear. 

“The only choice we have is to comply,” Daichi said quietly getting up from his seat, “Let’s all head to the gym.” He walked away silently. Everyone followed without a word, either too scared or too confused to protest. The walk to the Gym was silent. 

Once we all made it to the Gymnasium, Monokuma was already there, standing on the podium, waiting for us. 

“I’m gonna cut right to the chase, cause we don’t have all day!” Monokuma squawked, crossing his arms over his chest. We all snuck glances to each other, silently asking where the hell this was going. “When I look at you kids, you know what I see? A bunch of teenagers who aren’t dead!” So I’ve decided to give you a little push forward!” Monokuma exclaimed, reaching behind him. He held up a white envelope with Oikawa’s name written on it. “So, with that in mind, this motive’s theme is embarrassing memories, or, in other words, the past secrets you want kept secret!” He spread his fingers, causing more envelopes to fan out, revealing even more of our names. “Yolo!” Monokuma shouted, throwing the envelopes making them flutter around us. 

Everyone scrambled to find the envelope with their names on it. One by one we all tore them open. Gasps, cries, and shrieks could be heard from every direction. Monokuma raised both his paws to his mouth.  
“I don’t know a lot about skeletons, considering I’m a robotic bear and all, but every human has one kickin’ around in their closet!” Monokuma cackled manically. 

I swallowed and shakily opened the envelope, taking out the folded piece of paper, unfolding it nervously. 

_“Hinata sings a song every time he’s going to the bathroom.”_

I blushed and quickly folded the paper back up again. My secret was really embarrassing, and yeah it would really suck if everyone found out, but—

“Clocks’ tickin’ buckeroos! If I don’t have a corpse in twenty-four hours, the only secret left will be where’d your lives go? And trust me, we got some really interesting secrets here. Anyway, smell ya later!” Monokuma laughed, jumping up and disappearing behind the podium. 

Once again, we had all been reduced to shock and fear, our voices and spirits gone. We all looked at each other, worried, in anguish, consumed by _despair._

“N-No one is actually going to kill over this right?” Nishinoya asked, uncharacteristically timid and quiet. No one responded. It was morbidly funny, how barely even thirty minutes ago we were all having a peaceful breakfast together like real classmates—real friends—and now we stared at each other with the same look of betrayal and distrust as the day prior. Our gazes and heads hung low, all of us making our way to the doors. Some people still trusted each other, which sectioned us off into small groups. I just decided to go back to my dorm. 

_I didn’t feel safe. I had this irritating itching feeling like I had forgotten something._

_And I did._

————————————————————————

I scurried around the dining hall kitchen, putting the finishing touches on my three-tiered cake. I placed every strawberry on top with care, making sure to line them up in perfect circles. 

My apron was covered in flour and other ingredients, but the sweet aroma and delicious taste was always worth it in the end. I guess that’s why I was always so passionate about baking, it was something fun and challenging, but also rewarding. 

Unmistakably the only talent I possessed though, the only thing that even partially stood me out from the crowd. 

I wish I could be more like Tsukki. He was so smart and witty, and his talent was actually something incredible. Sure I was passionate just like he was, but baking is a pretty standard thing compared to everyone else. 

I sighed, dipping my fingers into the excess frosting and sucking it off. I hummed at the taste, more than satisfied with my work. Confectioning was hard work, even if I was the “ultimate”, it still took a lot of time and effort. I wouldn’t call it pride, but I was always so happy with my creations. Simple yes, but if it brought a smile to someone’s face that was way more than enough to me. It made me feel worth something like I was more than a _pizza-faced crybaby._

I frowned deeply at the thought, my insecurities beginning to claw their way back up through my body, nestling deep into my heart. I looked over the cake, desperately searching for justification, any small spec of confidence or self-worth. _This is all I have._ There is nothing more that I can have but pride. It felt so undeserved, but it gave me something. 

A loud ringing noise snapped me out of my self deprecating thoughts, making me squeal in surprise. I scampered over to the small timer on the counter next to the oven. I shut it off, quickly remembering what it was for. It was the alarm for noon, the time I asked for everyone to meet me here. I smiled excitedly, beginning to pick up a bit.

I was impressed at how diligently I was able to work. The lacy table cloth elegantly draped over the table, the beautiful cake I concentrated so hard making, to the point where I closed one eye to get the precision down. My heart fluttered at the thought of everyone enjoying the cake that I made. 

I quickly untied the knot at the back of my neck, sliding off my dirty apron and folding it neatly. I placed my folded apron down on a counter, smoothing out my plain white button-up. I tidied up the long table, pushing in chairs, carefully arranging forks and knives, and stacking shiny plates. 

I stepped back and admired my work for a final time, impressed with myself, as this was the best work I had done. I just couldn’t wait to share it with everyone. 

I sat in one of the seats and patiently waited for everyone to arrive. It was already twelve-ten, but I knew I shouldn’t worry about that. They’d all come eventually. I hummed and looked all around the room. There wasn’t anything particularly interesting, but I wanted to occupy myself somehow. 

Another ten minutes went by and I was getting antsy. I was checking the time frequently, my legs bouncing in place anxiously. _Did something happen? I should check—but what if they come while I’m gone?_

Twenty minutes went by, and the cake was surely soggy by now. My lip quivered and I bit down on it harshly, causing it to shake harder. _You’re just being a crybaby Tadashi._ They probably have more important things to tend to, so be patient. _You are so ungrateful._

When the clock hit one, I broke. I slammed my fist down on to the table, wincing at the force. _I was weak, wasn’t I?_ My vision blurred and my head fuzzed as I looked at my cake in disgust. They were right, _putting time into useless things like this means nothing._ I slammed both of my palms on the table, lurching forward and crying with the force of a person vomiting on all fours. All this time, this preparation, this effort, it was all useless.

_No one was coming._

My fingers dug into the table cloth, slowly curling towards me. My fingernails peeled up in the process, igniting a fire from the tip of my finger to my knuckle. Had they forgotten? Or just not cared? Collectively decided to ignore me? The burning of tears rushing down my cheeks in a steady stream wasn’t punishment enough for believing they’d actually come. Sobs wracked through my body, causing me to curl into myself and tremble. I hated my talent, I hated the time I wasted on it, and I hated the time I wasted on preparing this. 

I swiped underneath my eyes, leaving an uncomfortable stickiness, but I was too drained to do anything about it. My head was thrumming to a ruthless beat. My temples throbbed from the upheaval of emotions. The emotions that collapsed the small dam that was held together by bandaids, no longer guarding the flow of tears behind it. 

My tantrum now over, the silence in the dining hall was almost deafening, making me dizzily wobble my head around. I blinked slowly, once, then twice, the droopiness of my eyelids making me frown, ashamed of my outburst. My face felt swollen like I had an allergic reaction. I sniffled, reaching for a plate with post crying sluggishness. The plate dipped in my grip when I picked it up, suddenly weighing a ton. The plate clambered onto the table. I sighed and reached for a knife next. I might as well eat some of this cake, even if it’s harder to enjoy alone. I hiccuped softly, absolutely miserable and alone. 

“Yamaguchi?” Came a quiet voice from the doorway. My head snapped to the voice, a whimper forcing its way out when I saw his expression. He was as bored as ever. I averted my eyes quickly, not noticing the way his eyes momentarily widened at my pitiful display. He silently walked over to the table, taking a seat across from me. 

“You look awful Yamaguchi, please take care of yourself,” Tsukki mumbled. Knowing him, this remark could easily be passed off as an insult, and it probably was, but why did it make me happy to hear that? I nodded still ashamed he had to see me like this.

“Is this strawberry shortcake?” Tsukki asked, examining the cake with genuine curiosity. It made my heart jump.

“Y-Yes it is…” I whispered, my eyes not daring to look at him, as I could just tell he was staring at me. 

“It’s my favorite you know,” Tsukki spoke, his calm voice like honey. My chest bloomed with happiness. The joy spreading through my body, lighting up my face. I looked up from the ground, my eyes welling up with tears, but my smile huge and toothy. My eyes shone with adoration as I clasped my trembling hands together. I’ll never forget what I saw when I looked at his face. 

_He was smiling._

A small, genuine, closed mouth smile. Because of my work. Because of my talent. _Because of me._ A few more tears fell before I laughed and wiped them away. 

“Well go on, cut me a slice Tadashi,” Tsukki said, his voice was calm and flat, but it felt different. It was… warm. Familiar. Like we had been in this situation before. 

I nodded happily and grabbed a plate, setting it down and getting the knife. I cut him a small piece from the bottom tier. I slid it over to him, and he said thank you quietly. 

I cut myself a piece as we sat in silence. I was frantically coming up with conversation topics; _so this killing game, crazy right? That Ushijima guy is so scary!_ Ugh no! I couldn’t think of anything it was just—

“You know,” Tsukki started, snapping me out of my thoughts, “I’m not surprised no one showed up. Everyone had their own things to do, or thought you were going to poison the cake.” He sighed, dabbing around his mouth with a napkin. My heart sank at those words. He was right, but I would never abuse my talent like that. I knew the place we were in was scary—and now we have twenty-four hours or we all die, but I felt ashamed that I wasn’t to be trusted.

Tsukki fixed his glasses and looked up, “I knew you wouldn’t do something like that, and even if you did, well—“ He cut himself off by beginning to chuckle, “At least I had some damn good cake.” He smiled, this time with his teeth. My heart skipped a beat—Oh my god, he’s smiling again! And he just laughed! 

“Now come on Yamaguchi, cut me another piece. We can’t have your hard work go to waste,” Tsukki said adjusting his glasses, “Let’s enjoy this.” He smiled, small and sympathetic, definitely a look he’d never give anyone else. 

“Sure thing Tsukki.” I smiled back, reaching for the knife again. 

So, maybe my talent wasn’t so bad. Maybe the time it took to prepare wasn’t so bad either. All twenty-two of us weren’t here but…

Maybe two was enough. 

_Just maybe._

————————————————————————

I felt awful! I didn’t mean to forget, seriously! I tugged on my hair, growling at my stupid brain for forgetting. I couldn’t quite put my finger on what it was that I had forgotten, so I just decided to take a nap and not worry about it. But when I had woken up and it was already past twelve, the guilt crawled all over me. 

After Monokuma announced the motive, some people announced they had things to tend to around the school. I also heard a few people say they were worried about Yamaguchi poisoning the cake, and then others overheard and ultimately decided not to go.

I felt terrible being in the discussion while Yamaguchi immediately rushed over to his lab to gather ingredients. He wasn’t there to defend himself so I decided to ignore that conversation. 

My mind was already preoccupied with the terrifying thought of twenty-four hours to live. I didn’t have time to worry about if he was going to poison the cake or not, or who was going to their labs—or whatever! Still, I wanted to go, Yamaguchi’s baking from what I had tried was amazing, and I wanted to support a friend, but I guess all the pressure of this… “killing game” had caused it to slip my mind. It was crazy, as soon as I hit my bed I forgot about everything and just passed out. 

I glanced over to the clock, one forty-five. I got up, stretched, and ran a hand through my hair. I might as well check around the school, and see what people are up to. I walked towards my dresser to pick up my room key, and I heard laughter. Maniacal, childish laughter. 

_Monokuma._

I whipped my head around to see him standing in front of my bed, his shoulders bouncing as he laughed. 

“Shouldn’t you be in more of a rush, kid? You missed a lot of things while you were here dozin’!” Monokuma barked, and I swear my heart stopped. 

“What do you mean something happened?!” I yelled, causing Monokuma to cover his mouth and cackle louder. 

“Couldn’t tell ya! But what I can…” Monokuma trailed, his chin slowly tipping down and his red eye glowing, “Some people are missing and you’re totally late to the search party!” Monokuma cackled, and I blinked rapidly to try and make sense of what he was saying until finally, I understood. 

_A murder must have occurred._

“No, it can’t be!” I yelled, ready to scream my throat out at Monokuma, but he was gone. Just as fast as he came, he disappeared. 

“Damn it!” I choked out, forgetting all about my key and bursting through my door, rushing to the dining hall. I figured it was a good common ground, so I just prayed everyone was meeting up there. I dashed through the dorm hall stumbling as my feet seemed to move faster than my body and brain could comprehend. 

I came to a skidding stop in front of the doorway, seeing people gathered inside. 

“Oh thank goodness, Hinata you’re here!” Suga gasped, visibly panicked. 

“Who’s missing?” I wailed, frantically trying to look around—count heads—try to remember who was who—

“We don’t know yet, we’re missing at least five people.” Daichi sighed, looking around the room. 

Suga, Daichi, and Asahi were there, so was Nishinoya, Tanaka, Kuroo, Kenma, Akaashi, Bokuto, Ushijima, Tendo, Iwaizumi, Yamaguchi, Tsukishima, Yaku, and Lev.

“We believe that… someone must’ve gotten murdered. We just don’t know who—” Suga said, voice just above a whisper, but I cut him off. I noticed one person who failed to show up before the rest. 

“Kageyama! Why isn’t he here?!” I yelled, my mouth seemingly moving at its own accord. 

“Hinata please calm down! We don’t know yet—” Daichi pleaded, desperation clear in his voice but I couldn’t calm down.

“No, no, no! I’m going to find him!” I yelled, rushing back down the hall. People called after me but I couldn’t care, I needed to find him. 

I ran up to his dorm and frantically banged on the door. “Kageyama! Kageyama!” I yelled, but to no avail. Looking around, I tried jiggling the handle, but to no use. 

I should check the ultimate labs! His isn’t open, but it's possible he's at someone else's. I ran as fast as my legs could take me, past the dining hall, and into the hallway in front of the dormitories. 

Once I got to the first door I burst through it. It was Asahi’s. It was a huge library, but no Kageyama. I ran right back out, this was no time to be gawking at libraries. 

Down a little more was another door, it was slightly open revealing light inside. He could be in there! 

My hopes were proven false as I swung the door completely open and was met with a smaller lab, similar to a kitchen, decked out with tons of cabinets and counters. This must be Yamaguchi’s lab, but no Kageyama. 

I kept going, sprinting out of Yamaguchi’s lab, gasping for air, until I was met with another door. It was a polished brown with shiny gold accents. And the sight I was met with wasn’t Kageyama. It wasn’t anyone we were missing either… well... at least... alive. 

_It was a body._

My eyes darted around taking in all of the blood, the dismembered pool stick, and the wound on the back of his head. The image was bored into my skull, forever burned into my brain.

I seized all movement, my breathing even stopping momentarily. It took me a second to realize I was screaming.

There was a rush of footsteps coming from down the hall. I felt nauseous as I stared at his lifeless body. 

_Yuji Terushima, The Ultimate Gambler, had been murdered._

“Hinata what—“ A voice called, but they were interrupted by a loud noise. 

_-Ding Dong, Dong Ding-_

“A body has been discovered! Everyone, please gather in The Ultimate Gambler Lab!” Monokuma’s shrill voice exclaimed. “After a certain amount of time, which you may use however you’d like, a class trial will begin!” Monokuma added, before the small screen cut to black. Class… trial?

 _Everyone was dead silent._ No one dared to move. 

“Well, Well, Well! I thought you kiddos said no killing!” Monokuma mocked, somehow suddenly in the room with the rest of us.

“What the hell is going on? I won’t believe it happened, I won’t!” I shouted all of my aggression aimed at Monokuma. 

“Yeah well, it did! Anywho, I have some more rules to lay out for you little brats, so make sure you check your e-Handbooks! Adios!” Monokuma exclaimed before bouncing away. All of our devices dinged, and we took them out of our pockets to review the new rules. 

Number seven had been changed. It was now; _“Once three or more people discover a body, a body discovery announcement will be played.”_

Number eight, _“After a murder takes place, a class trial will begin shortly thereafter. Participation is mandatory for all surviving students.”_

Number nine, _“If the guilty party is exposed during the class trial, they alone will be executed.”_

Number ten, _“If the guilty party is not exposed, they alone will graduate, and all remaining students will be executed.”_

After reading them all, we all looked up at each other. Angry, scared, shocked. 

“We should take this time to investigate, it’s obvious we are going to have to figure out who killed Terushima,” Kuroo stated. He was right. If we were going to have this “class trial”, we might as well try to figure out what happened. If not, according to number ten, we’ll all be murdered if we fail to bring the killer to light. 

The pitter-patter of feet was heard in the hallway, as four more people rushed in.

Semi, Kyotani, Oikawa and Kageyama. 

It was who we were missing from earlier. Before I could process any of my thoughts, my mouth moved before my mind. “Kageyama! You’re alright!” I shouted, rushing over to him. It was so weird, yeah, Kageyama was my friend and all, but why did I care so much? It felt as if Kageyama and I had this weird deep bond, that was so valuable and unexplainable. 

Kageyama’s eyes widened momentarily like he was genuinely confused that I showed any concern for him. “Of course I’m okay dumbass! What the hell is going on here?” Kageyama barked, looking around the room. He was silenced when he saw the body. 

“We can’t ask questions like that now! We have to investigate.” Suga scolded, but his tone was pleading.

“The rules got updated… so…” Kenma mumbled, fiddling with his hoodie strings. 

“Yes. Did the four of you take the time to read them all?” Ushijima asked, his voice deep and serious, not one hint of worry in it. 

“Ugh great! More fuckin’ rules!” Kyotani barked, reaching into his pocket for his e-Handbook, the other three doing the same. 

“Everyone, we can't waste any more time! We have to investigate!” Asahi boomed, his sudden confidence alarming everyone. 

“That was badass!” Nishinoya exclaimed. 

Suddenly, Monokuma popped up again. He was holding a stack of tablets that looked like our e-Handbooks. 

“Since you’re all here now, I’m gonna pass out the Monokuma file! These will give you all information on Terushima’s death!” Monokuma said, all too cheerful, his entertainment at our expense, morbid. He passed them out and after shouting “have fun” he left.

“It will probably be best if we check this out as well,” Akaashi spoke looking down at his Monokuma file. We all agreed and pressed the button to power it on.

The screen lit up with the words “Monokuma File 01”, a small scroll bar on the right side. I scrolled down and more images popped up. On the left, there was the word _“dead”_ in fuchsia letters and all capitals. Below the word, dead was his full name, in bold white text. To the right of that, was a headshot of Terushima, and next that was a full body picture of him. Underneath both of those was a chart depicting basic health information on Terushima. His height was listed as five-nine, his weight was one hundred forty-seven pounds, his chest thirty-four inches, and his blood type B. I scrolled down again and this slide explained the cause of death. It showed a horizontal picture of his lifeless body in front of the pool table at the top, a smaller version of the full-body picture of him underneath it in the right corner. The same fuchsia color from earlier painted the side of his head, replicating the wound he had suffered from the pool stick. To the left, under eerie pink words _—cause of death—_ was a small paragraph describing how Terushima was murdered. 

_“The victim’s body was discovered inside of the Ultimate Gambler lab, located on the first floor. The estimated time of death is between one-forty and one fifty p.m. The victim was subjected to blunt force trauma to the back of the skull, resulting in cranial fractures and immediate death. No other injuries have been detected.”_

I powered off the device and looked up to see people making their way towards things to investigate. Kageyama gestured me over with his head, and I scurried over to where he was. He walked towards the body. It is probably the best place to start, even if it was bone-chilling to be in front of our friend’s corpse like this. But I knew we had to do this for him… we needed to bring his killer to justice. 

Terushima laid on his side on the ground, his back facing the doorway and us. The blood wasn’t completely dried yet, his faux blonde hair stained with the bright pink fluid. I crouched down and pointed to the dismembered pool stick, which had been broken apart, split right in the middle. The butt of the cue was coated with blood, some of it trailing farther down, a small splattered puddle of blood underneath. 

“This must have been the murder weapon, considering all of the blood and how the cause of death was blunt force trauma,” I claimed. Kageyama nodded, crouching down to get a better look. 

“The killer must’ve used the stick like a baseball bat, and just whacked him in the head,” Kageyama explained. He reached a finger out and dragged it around the stick, careful to avoid any blood, before carefully lifting it with his index finger and thumb. He nodded to himself before turning to me. “This stick is really nice. It’s very hard and completely solid, just like a wood baseball bat.” Kageyama concluded, slowly lowering the pool stick back into its original position. 

“Hey, check it out,” I said, rising from my spot on the ground, pointing at the pool table, “It looks like the table’s been used,” I remarked, Kageyama stood up with me, looking down onto the table. 

“Someone must’ve been here with him then,” Kageyama said, eyebrows furrowed. I gulped. So this definitely was a murder then… a shiver wracked up my spine. Kageyama hummed, nudging me, “We can’t dwell on that too long though, we can get alibis later. We need to look for clues now.” He spoke, starting to walk off. I was hesitant but followed anyway. 

Terushima’s lab was fairly large, three more pool tables, two huge poker tables, and even a few slot machines! The room looked like a mini casino, decked out with fancy chandeliers and colored lights. There were card decks, casino chips, and roulette wheels. 

We walked over to opposite tables, searching through the cards and chips. 

“Kageyama…” I started quietly, receiving a hum from him. “Where were you while the rest of us were here? I looked everywhere for you!” I interrogated, pouting. 

“I was taking a shit, dumbass!” Kageyama barked angrily, leaning over his table to bare his teeth at me. 

“Ew! Just say poopie!”

“Shit!”

“Poopie!”

“Shit, Shit, Shit!”

“You are so annoying!” 

“You’re both annoying! Now quiet down!” Daichi’s voice boomed, silencing both of us immediately. 

“Daichi! When did you get here?” I squealed, half scared at his sudden appearance and half scared at his yelling. Suga and Asahi were with him, Suga holding some gold ring. 

“We wanted to talk to you about something we found, we have absolutely no clue what it could mean.” Asahi answered, Suga passing the ring to me. 

“It has two K’s on it, right on the outside,” Suga said, pointing to them. Huh. Strange. 

“What could it stand for?” Kageyama asked, a grumpy expression on his face as he scratched his head. I turned the ring around in my palm, but all that was on the ring was the K’s. 

“We found it in Terushima’s pocket, but why would he have a ring that has K’s on it?” Suga asked, pouting, one eyebrow raised. I studied the ring closer, even bringing it right up to my eyes. 

“I really have no clue… if we get any ideas we’ll let you know!” I said determined, going to hand the ring back to Suga, but he shook his head and pushed my hand back. 

“I want you to keep it Hinata,” Suga smiled, tilting his head to the side, “I’m sure you’ll figure it out.” He said sweetly, stepping back. 

“We’re going to investigate some more. Also, don’t be afraid to ask for help if you need it.” Daichi informed, Asahi and Suga giving little waves before walking away. 

“We should probably talk to the people who showed up late with you and see if they have alibis. That’s Semi, Kyotani, and…” I sighed, not even wanting to say his name, “Oikawa. Why don’t we just get him out of the way?” I scowled, not really wanting to, but knowing it was probably best. Kageyama grimaced but nodded anyway. 

I looked around and spotted him in a corner, watching everyone like always. Was he even investigating? I felt my blood boil and stomped over to him. 

“You have some nerve not investigating like the rest of us! Who do you think you are—”

“Woah-ho! Simmer down Chibi-Chan!” Oikawa cheered, but his voice was one hundred and ten percent mocking. He bent down and literally pat my head, “We can’t have our lucky little orange popping a blood vessel!” Oikawa trumpeted. I was absolutely fuming, I don’t know if it was the nickname, or the petting, or just the straight-up audacity of this guy, but I was ready to absolutely—

“Don’t be an ass Oikawa,” Kageyama scoffed, “We’re here for your alibi.” 

“My alibi? You’re not suspecting me of murder are you?” Oikawa cried dramatically, holding his heart in mock defense. I felt my eye twitch, this was painfully fake. 

In a sudden switch of gears, Oikawa huffed and dropped his hand and nice act. “Well, Tobio-Chan,” he spat, his eyes narrowing, “It’s quite the waste of time to ask me, considering that the culprit is blatantly obvious, but I’ll humor you.” flicking his wrist in a “shoo” motion.

“I was investigating around the school, and I have Iwa to back me up. If you have any more concerns, go bother him.” Oikawa sneered, ushering us away with his hands. 

Both of us at a loss for words, Kageyama simply huffed and turned on his heel. I glared at Oikawa, and his only response was a smirk and a flirtatious wiggle of his fingers. I sputtered, trying to think of some sort of comeback, but I knew we’d been beaten. _We’re gonna get him back somehow._ I growled in frustration, stomping after Kageyama. 

Once I had caught up—with an absolutely pissed Kageyama—we began making our way to Kyotani. He was standing by one of the poker tables. 

“What a jerk, I am so tired of that guy!” I yelled, not loud enough for Oikawa to hear. Kageyama only grunted in response. I sighed, half annoyed and half intimidated that we had to talk to Kyotani. 

“Kyotani, can we ask you—“ 

“Back off short-stack!” Kyotani barked, his sudden defensive attitude startling me. “I don’t have time to talk to you, pipsqueak.” He growled, storming off. 

“What the hell?” I muttered, totally confused. I mean, Kyotani was a super aggressive guy, but why did he just burst like that?

Tanaka and Nishinoya, who were at a table a few feet away, came up to us. 

“He did the same thing to us, I had no idea what his problem was, but Noya saw him leaving here totally pissed,” Tanaka said in a hushed voice, careful to not alert Kyotani. 

“You did?” I asked, shocked. 

“Yeah!” Nishinoya whisper yelled, leaning in closer, “I was with Asahi, and we were going to his library, and right before I got in the library I saw Kyotani slam the door to this place, and start storming down the hallway, so I quickly went in.” He explained. 

So that’s why he didn’t want to talk to us? That’s really suspicious if he was walking out of the lab. 

“Did you see anything? Like blood?” Kageyama asked.

“I went inside the library super fast so I didn’t see much, but Kyotani was in this white T-Shirt. It’s not that weird, but different from what he usually wears.” Nishinoya described, scratching his head. I nodded. Considering that all of our clothes are the exact copy of the ones we had on the first day here, it would be kind of weird to switch clothes like that. 

“That was pretty helpful! Thanks, Noya!” I praised, which made Nishinoya turn pink. 

“It’s nothin’! I’m glad to help.” Noya smiled giving a thumbs up. 

“We should go talk to Semi, we probably don’t have too much time left,” Kageyama suggested. I nodded, turning back to Nishinoya and Tanaka. 

“Thanks for your help again guys, later!” I called over my shoulder, Kageyama making a noise of agreement, both of us heading towards Semi. 

Semi looked calm, as he quietly looked around. I felt kind of bad, Terushima was always clinging to him so Semi didn’t really have anyone. 

“Semi, do you mind if we ask you a few questions?” Kageyama asked once we were in front of Semi. Semi looked up from where he was searching and turned towards us. 

“Um… I don’t mind no.” He said awkwardly, standing up straight. 

“Great! So where were you while the rest of us were gathered in here?” I asked, tilting my head to the side.

“I was inside of my dorm, cleaning up. I visited Terushima before that.” Semi admitted, his expression calm, almost bored. 

I gulped. So Semi was here as well? That makes this even more complicated…

“What time were you in here with Terushima?” I questioned, crossing my arms over my chest. Considering that the time of death is just a rough estimate, that must be important to the case. 

“I believe I was here at one-thirty and stayed until one-forty. It’s hard to say.” Semi answered, still calm even though he was the last confirmed person to see Terushima alive. We know that Kyotani was here, but we don’t have a time… 

“I know you have no choice but to suspect me,” Semi sighed, a sad look glazing over his eyes, “But, please, believe me, I want to bring Terushima’s murderer to light more than anyone else.” Semi looked so genuine, although his eyes were the only proof of it.

It scared me, it really did, knowing that anyone here could be lying, anyone here could easily fool us all. Despite that, I was trying my best to be optimistic. I decided to believe Semi for now, but who knows what was going to happen during the class trial. 

“Thank you for your honesty Semi. We’ll figure this out, I’m sure of it!” I said determinedly, to which Semi gave a small smile, closing his eyes and nodding to me.

“Thank you, Hinata,” Semi said, I was about to tell him that a thank you wasn’t necessary, but a gasp caused my head to snap to the side. 

A small door on the right side of the room, a closet, had been opened. Yamaguchi was crouched on the ground, holding a black woven jacket. 

_Nishinoya’s woven jacket._

_And it was covered in blood._

Everyone else had their heads in the direction of Yamaguchi, including Nishinoya. He looked _petrified._ His mouth was hanging open, slightly shaking as his breathing was jagged. 

“I-I…” Nishinoya stuttered, as everyone’s gazes slowly slid towards him. He was at an absolute loss for words, almost turning blue in the face from his uneven breathing. 

_-Ding Dong, Bing Bong-_

That same familiar gurgling of static was heard. We all looked up to the small tv screen, that I’m guessing is just present in every room.

“I’m getting tired of waiting! Whadduya say we just get this started, hm?” Monokuma whined, making me stop breathing momentarily. We’re going to have the class trial… _now?_ We weren’t ready, we didn’t have possibly enough evidence to point the finger at anyone! There were so many possible culprits—

“It’s time for the long-awaited class trial!” Monokuma exclaimed, his cheery tone still just as unnerving as before. I don’t think I could ever get used to it. 

“Now then, let me appoint a proper location for the proceedings. Please go through the red door on the first floor of the school. This door will be located down the hall from the dormitories.” That was the last thing Monokuma said before the tv cut out. 

Once again, we were all reduced to dead silence. Some took the initiative and walked with their heads down one by one out of the lab. 

Kageyama and I stayed put, watching everyone leave. 

While everyone was leaving, Nishinoya stood unmoving, his eyes wide. When Asahi had walked by, he gave Nishinoya a reassuring pat on the back, but he seemed too nervous to say anything else.

Tanaka stood by Nishinoya, while everyone just passed him like he was scum. Tanaka said something that I couldn’t hear, he tried to console Nishinoya, reaching out to put a hand on his shoulder, but it was smacked away. Nishinoya was looking to the side, his eyes fixated on the ground. He looked like he was about to burst into tears and break something in a fit of rage at the same time. He looked like he wanted to, no, needed to say something, but instead, he sighed in defeat. He trudged away, Tanaka following close behind, a pitying look on his face. 

Once again, it was just me and Kageyama left. 

“We’re really doing this huh?” I asked, looking up at him. Kageyama sighed and kept looking forward. 

“I guess we are. But I’ll be by your side Hinata,” Kageyama said, actually turning his head to look at me this time. “We’re going to do this together,” Kageyama said, no, stated. The determination in his voice made me nod. 

“We’re going to bring Terushima’s killer to justice,” I added. Without any further words, we both began to make our way out into the hall, and towards the large red double door. 

_Beyond that door, was the class trial. Where we would bring The Ultimate Gambler, Yuji Terushima’s, killer to light._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 𝚁𝙴𝙼𝙰𝙸𝙽𝙸𝙽𝙶 𝚂𝚃𝚄𝙳𝙴𝙽𝚃𝚂: 𝟸𝟷


	6. All rise!

Kageyama and I grabbed opposite doors, pulling them open to reveal everyone standing in the fairly small room. It looked like an elevator. Gate-like bars coated the walls, pipes, and metal pieces sprinkled underneath. There looked to be another double door ahead of us, but instead opting for metal instead of red cushions. The floor was also metal, a copper color. Right next to the doors ahead of me, was one of those small tv screens. 

_The one who murdered Terushima… is it really one of us?_

“Is everyone here? Okay then… Please board the elevator in front of you, which will transport you to the courtroom!” Monokuma announced, popping up on the screen. 

“Soon, all of your fates will be decided,” Monokuma sang, “I’ll meet you all down there. I’ll be waiting…” He finished, his jolly tone melting into that of a menacing one. 

“So whoever stuck us here really took the time to set up a courtroom, huh? Kyotani asked, agitated. 

“I can’t help but wonder what whoever killed Terushima is thinking right now,” Daichi spoke serious and calm, but his tone teetered on uneasy.

With each step forward I could feel my heart thrumming against the confines of my ribcage, the pounding so hard it was practically lurching me forward. 

Everyone else was already on the elevator. When I finally stepped on, the doors closed and the elevator started to move.

The metal box began its slow descent, a quiet buzzing sound following its movements. Toward the school basement, we dropped, silence filling the slightly cramped space. 

I wonder if this is how an inmate on death row feels when the time finally comes…

Ignoring our ever-present and shared anxiety, the elevator continued to lower us further and further down into the deep dark underground of Hope’s Peak Academy. 

Suddenly, the movement had ceased, the floor of the elevator trembling as all the weight had finally dropped and pressed into the floor. A loud _ding_ rang out, similar to that of a toaster, and the large metal door in front of us slid open. 

It was a large room, maybe half the size of the gymnasium. The walls were navy blue, the outline of diamonds in a lighter blue shade. Golden pillars rested in front of the diamond plaid walls, scarlet drapes and curtains hanging in between the four golden pillars. 

Dead ahead was a tall mustard yellow throne, red cushioning covering the length of the back of the chair, an oval resting at the top for the head. A large fluffy pillow of the same red color was on the seat of the throne, completing the imitating and regal look. 

In the middle of the room was a large red circle resting atop the black and white checkered pattern floor. The large red circle was used as a riser for twenty-two mahogany podiums, all in a circle. The podiums were in a crescent moon shape, allowing room for all of us to stand behind one. 

While observing the podiums, I saw it. It was a large stand, with something at the top. A picture. It was a headshot of Terushima. Something about it made a chill run down my spine. The stand was his exact height, and the portrait of him was vandalized. Drawn on him in drippy pink paint, (or at least I hope it was paint—) was a jesters hat, adorned with three bells, and the jester’s collar which spiked out in different directions on his neck. The tips of the collar had bells as well. The fuchsia ink gave me this uneasy feeling. Then I realized.

 _The pink that matched the color of the blood his head was cradled in._

I felt sick, whoever was controlling this was just so disgusting, do they think death was a joke? 

Then, Monokuma popped up on the throne.

“So, you’ve finally arrived! Whadduya think? just like a real courtroom huh?” He chimed, sounding dangerously excited. 

Monokuma tilted his head to the side, “It’s just like a movie set, riiiiight?” Monokuma drawled. 

Tsukishima let out a cocky hum, that sounded like a laugh and pushed his glasses up. 

“Not even close. Subpar at best.” Tsukishima quipped, spitting the words at Monokuma like venom. 

I almost felt like laughing at the condescending remark, but this courtroom atmosphere was really giving me a hard time. I was dizzy with anticipation and anxiety. Drunk under the spell of the unknown, the absolute fear of not knowing what to expect. 

“Okay, okay. Everyone find your assigned podiums. Get a move on!” Monokuma barked, pointing at the circle of podiums in the center of the courtroom. 

We listened to what he said and found our respective podiums. Each had our names engraved into the mahogany wood. All the podiums were arranged so that we could see everyone else. This also meant it would be easy for anyone to transfer their tension and unease onto anyone else. Once again, the air was heavy with unease. 

And so, the curtain on our first case opened, a deadly fate, a grave betrayal, _an injurious class trial._

“So, let’s begin with a basic explanation of the class trial! So, your votes will determine the results. If you can figure out “whodunnit” then only they will receive punishment. But if you pick the wrong one…” Monokuma explained, trailing off and getting that threatening glow in his red eye, “I’ll punish everyone besides the blackened and the one that deceived everyone else will graduate!” Monokuma exclaimed, both of his paws up in the air. 

“So the killer is definitely one of us, right?” I asked. 

“Of course! A bear never lies!” Monokuma cheered. 

“Before we get started, I’d like to ask a question,” Oikawa stated, gripping the edges of his podium and leaning forward. 

“What’s with the picture?” He asked his gaze cast on Terushima’s portrait. 

“I’d feel awful if they got left out just because they died! Friendship penetrates even death’s barrier!” Monokuma chirped flamboyantly. Kenma scoffed quietly from his podium. 

“Really? You’re the one saying that?” He mumbled sassily, a small frown on his lips. He didn’t look like he had his gaming system on him, which relieved me. It was best for his safety, we needed to make sure everyone was at full attention. 

“Okie Dokie! That concludes our preamble. Get ready to get started!” Monokuma sang. 

“First up is the case summary. Now, let the trial begin!” He added. 

It’s all about to begin—the debate to decide who we believe the killer is. Anything we found, everything I noticed… I have to be ready to speak up about it all. But, this isn’t just about me. Everyone’s lives are on the line!

“I declare that Yuji Terushima was the one who was murdered!” Lev asserted proudly. Yaku pinched the bridge of his nose, sighing, looking like he was going to say something, but ultimately deciding he didn’t have the energy. 

“Uh, yeah dude. We know that part already.” Tanaka said his eyebrows raised and eyes open wide, nodding along with his words. 

“The murder occurred in the Ultimate Gambler’s Lab,” Tsukishima added. 

“Terushima must have had time to react if someone was in the room with him,” Ushijima claimed. 

Wait. That wasn’t right, was it? There is definitely evidence to disprove that claim! I thought back to all the evidence we had gathered. That’s it! I’ve got it!

“No, that’s wrong!” I shouted, breaking through his words. Ushijima was as unphased as ever, but I could tell I had caught his attention. I took a deep breath, “Just a second, Ushijima. Think back to the Monokuma file. According to the file, there were no injuries detected, and Terushima’s death was instant.” I explained. 

“So what you’re saying is Terushima didn’t have the time to struggle, right? Yamaguchi asked.

“After taking one look at the scene that should be obvious. Barely anything was touched, and the Monokuma file clearly states that Terushima sustained no other injuries.” Tsukishima clarified coldly. 

“O-Oh, sorry Tsukki!” Yamaguchi responded timidly, Apologizing for nothing as usual. 

“Alright! We figured something out!” Bokuto cheered, balling his hands into fists. “But, what exactly do we do now?” He asked, tilting his head to the side like a puppy. 

“Well before we go any further, are we sure he was murdered? I assume suicide is possible.” Suga said. I felt bad, Suga was trying to avoid the possibility of murder, wasn’t he? I didn’t want to think that someone in this room truly did kill Terushima, but we had no other choice. We must all participate in this trial to try and reveal the culprit. 

So again I thought back to the crime scene. Was there evidence of someone else being in the room with him? 

_Oh, I’ve got it!_

“It must have been a murder because the pool table he was found next to was used,” I explained. That pool table, unlike the rest around his lab, was touched, balls slid out of the triangle rack, scattered around the table. 

Suga looked hesitant and troubled, but nodded. 

“Next, we should discuss a possible murder weapon, since nothing is confirmed quite yet,” Daichi stated. He had his arms crossed over his chest and a serious expression on his face. 

“Yeah, that’s a good idea. We should all start listing possible weapons.” Suga agreed, looking around at all of us. 

“He totally could have slipped and hit his head on the ground!” Nishinoya shouted. 

“Could he have been beaten to death? Akaashi asked quietly.

“Maybe a pool ball got thrown at his head.” Kuroo shrugged. 

“The killer could have banged Terushima’s head against the edge of the pool table,” Yaku suggested. 

“Are we sure the murder weapon was even in the room?” Asahi asked. 

That didn’t sound right either. I was sure there was a weapon of some sort inside that lab! 

“It must’ve been!” I interjected. “The pool stick, remember? It was in half and had blood splattered at the top.” I explained. I got a few confused looks, and a couple unsure ones. 

Iwaizumi hummed and nodded, “Considering that the cause of death was blunt force trauma to the back of the head, that pool stick is the most likely murder weapon.” He concurred. 

More people seemed to believe my claim once Iwa backed it up. Having a medic on our team during this killing game was proving to be just as helpful as I thought. 

"Huh? A pool stick?" Tendo asked, tilting his body and head to the side. 

"Yes. Hinata and I took a look at it while we were investigating. It was right next to Terushima's body, so we immediately assumed it was the murder weapon." Kageyama confirmed, "Now that Iwaizumi has proved that the pool stick is more than fitting, why don't we move on to the next topic?" Kageyama asked. 

Semi cleared his throat and spoke up. “Considering that the timing is important to the case, why don’t we go over alibis?” Semi asked. 

“That’s a good idea. Everyone was inside the dining hall while we were missing four people. That would be Kageyama, Oikawa, Semi, and Kyotani.” Suga stated. 

“Kageyama was in the bathroom during the announcement,” I spoke for him, not wanting him to announce that he was taking a shit. 

“I can attest to that,” Semi added courteously, “While I was on my way back from my room I saw him leave his,” Semi concluded. 

“And your alibi, Semi?” Ushijima asked stoically. 

“Ah, yes. I visited Terushima today. I was at his lab from around one-thirty to one-forty. Then I went back to my room to tidy up.” Semi confessed just like he did when me and Kageyama questioned him during the investigation. 

“Crappykawa was doing some investigating around the school while the announcement played. He told me before he started looking around cause this loser was scared he was gonna get lost.” Iwaizumi said gruffly, which made Oikawa gasp dramatically. 

“Iwa-Chan!” Oikawa whined, “That did not happen!” Oikawa pointed an accusing finger at Iwaizumi. “I told you not to talk about that part!” Oikawa barked through a clenched jaw, clearly embarrassed. 

Iwa scoffed, rolling his eyes. “You said, and I quote, ‘if I don’t come back in an hour, come save me Mr. Medic Man.’, dumbass.” Iwaizumi mocked, sadly not impersonating Oikawa’s for sure dramatic and whiny voice. 

Oikawa averted his eyes. “Shut up.” He huffed, effectively silenced by Iwaizumi’s teasing. Iwaizumi smirked at the display, clearly entertained by Oikawa’s submissiveness. 

We were all completely sidetracked from the trial until a low growl of annoyance was heard from a podium. 

"I mean sure, we know the murder weapon, we have some alibis, but where the hell does that get us?" Kyotani questioned aggressively. "I mean, we all know Nishinoya killed him right?" He spat, leaning over his podium to glare at Nishinoya. 

"You can't just jump to conclusions like that, dude!" Tanaka retorted tucking his arms tightly across his chest. 

"Well considering the jacket we found in that closet, Nishinoya's jacket might I add, what more evidence do we need? He was definitely there!" Tendo argued. 

"He couldn't have been there," Asahi started defensively, "He was with me in my library the entire time." He countered.

"Ohhhh, defending your friend huh? Well tough, I'm not buyin' it." Kyotani growled. 

"Actually," Daichi started, his tone threatening, gaze on Kyotani serious, "Suga and I can both back up that claim," Daichi said, side glancing at Suga, who nodded without hesitation. Kyotani looked taken aback by the support Noya received, his next rebuttal silenced by the four to one evidence. "Still not buying it?" Daichi asked challengingly, arms crossed and one eyebrow raised. Kyotani only grumbled in response. 

“That doesn’t mean Nishinoya is one-hundred percent safe though,” Tsukishima spoke up. “He must have left the library to go to the bathroom or grab food sometime, correct?” He asked, the way he annunciated his words making me feel unsettled. It was nothing like Semi who had this polite and formal manner to him, it was like Tsukishima was _trying_ to intimidate everyone. 

Asahi gulped when all eyes were on him. Poor Nishinoya remained silent, biting his lip and staring down at his feet. Asahi seemed to be careful with his word choice, hesitating a few times before he actually spoke. 

“Nishi did leave a few times, yeah.” Asahi admitted sadly. But he quickly snapped out of it to defend once more.

”But, there’s absolutely no way he committed murder during those short minutes, it just won’t add up.” Asahi claimed. He was standing his ground against Kyotani, who seemed to thrive in the exposure of Nishinoya coming and going. 

“Doesn’t matter, that’s gotta be his damn jacket. There’s no doubt about it.” Kyotani argued. 

And unfortunately enough, not people began to choose his side. 

“He’s right, that is unmistakably Nishinoya’s jacket. There’s no excuse for that.” Semi agreed, eyes narrowing in on Nishinoya's form. 

“He could’ve easily got a clean one considering we all have extras in our dorms,” Kuroo added. 

“Ouch! He can’t even say anything because he knows it’s true!” Tendou giggled, covering his mouth with one hand. 

“He has the exact jacket on right now, I don’t really think we have room to argue…” Kenma mumbled. 

I looked at Nishinoya pitifully. He was gripping the edge of his podium and shaking lightly. I could only imagine how terrible he must feel, with so many people ganging up on him. He must be trying so desperately to come up with some sort of rebuttal, even Daichi and Suga were out of defense for him. 

Then, a snide hum came from another podium. 

“Have you all forgotten?” Oikawa asked confidently, a dangerous glint in his eyes. “Our beloved Mad Dog wears the same jacket.” Oikawa stated smoothly, punctuating his claim by “tch-ing” his t, much like someone would pop a p. 

_Silence._

What Oikawa said was an absolute curveball. Slowly, eyes began to widen as they realized this conclusion. And thankfully, Noya got his mojo back.

“That’s right! I’ve kept this jacket on all day, but someone hasn’t.” Nishinoya said, turning his gaze to Kyotani. “While I was going into the Library with Asahi, I saw Kyotani leaving the gambling lab, but he didn’t have his jacket on.” Nishinoya testified, crossing his arms. 

“Kyotani, care to explain?” Oikawa smiled, resting both of his arms on the edge of his podium, and leaning forward. 

“Me havin’ my jacket off doesn’t matter! Just like Kuroo said, Nishinoya could’ve just gotten a new one!” Kyotani barked angrily. 

“Yes, that is true, but you leaving the lab without yours on is far more suspicious,” Daichi noted. 

“Noya,” Suga started, his eyebrows knit together, “Do you remember what time you entered the library?” Suga questioned. 

“I don’t really remember exactly…” Nishinoya trailed, looking around as he tried to recall the answer. “Probably around one-forty? But what I know for sure is that Kyotani was there—”

“Why’s it matter if I was there at one forty-eight?!” Kyotani snapped. 

Then his face began to melt, the anger sliding off of his expression and morphing into that of a panicked one. 

_“Shit.”_ Kyotani cursed under his breath. 

“Kyotani…” Suga trailed, “Nishinoya never gave a specific time…” 

“Shit, shit, shit, shit!” Kyotani roared, his anger successfully breaking past his fear. 

Then, something clicked with me. _That ring,_ that one Suga found in Terushima’s pocket, the two letters on it made sense now. 

“That ring that was in Terushima’s pocket…” I started, looking up to make eye contact with a fuming Kyotani, “Is yours isn’t it?” I asked him. Kyotani was huffing and puffing angrily, through his clenched teeth.

“I don’t know what the _fuck_ you’re talkin’ about!” He barked, gripping his podium and lunging forward like he was going to pounce on me. 

“Hinata, how do you know?” Suga asked. 

“Now that we know Kyotani was there, at such a specific time no less, I decided to look back on that ring,” I began, “There are two letters engraved on the ring. Two K’s,” I paused pointing an accusing finger at Kyotani, “So this ring must belong to Kentaro Kyotani!” I shouted, hope and determination coursing through my veins. 

“That’s bullshit! That’s just a coincidence!” Kyotani yelled, gripping his podium so hard his knuckles began to turn white. 

“If it’s just a coincidence? Why did you try to hide evidence?” Kuroo asked, one eyebrow raised. “You know what I’m talking about, right Hinata?” Kuroo questioned, turning to me. 

We were talking about it earlier weren’t we? Oh yeah, that’s right! The jacket that was found in that closet!

“I’ve got it! You mean the jacket Yamaguchi found inside of that closet, right?” I answered. 

“When the killer hit Terushima in the head, they undoubtedly would get blood on them,” Kuroo said. 

“But they probably didn’t have enough time to properly dispose of the jacket, so they hid it the first place they found fit.” Kageyama asserted surely. 

“So the killer hid the jacket in the closet! Isn’t that right Kyotani?!” Bokuto shouted, making me jump a little. He had been so quiet this entire trial, I almost forgot he was here. He must have finally understood what’s been going on. 

“Can we really accuse Kyotani of murder just based off of a ring and a jacket?” Yaku asked, his arms crossed, mouth in a small frown and eyebrows knit close together in annoyance. 

“It’s not just that, he said the exact time he was with Terushima, while everything else was just rough estimates.” Daichi rebutted. 

“Yes, exactly. Take a look at the Monokuma file.” Iwaizumi suggested to all of us. 

“Right, because the murder time was between one-forty and one-fifty, and the only other person who was inside the ultimate lab left before then!” I concurred. 

“Kyotani had said earlier that he was leaving Terushima’s lab at one forty-eight, which is when Nishinoya saw him. That means he would’ve had time to kill Terushima, hide his jacket, and go back to his dorm, so no one would suspect him.” I reiterated. 

“So that means, the killer is the Ultimate Boxer. Isn’t that right, Kyotani?!” I shouted, swallowing all my fear and pointing at him accusingly, my index and thumb in an L shape. 

“He is the most likely candidate,” Akaashi said quietly. 

“If the shoe fits, wear it!” Tanaka barked.

“It only makes sense,” Semi spoke gravely. 

“This is all bullshit! Are any of you seriously believing this?!” Kyotani roared. 

“You’re not ready to admit it huh?” Oikawa asked, his eyes droopy, expression bored, but he had that glint in his eyes that made me shiver, the glint like he knew everything that I didn’t.

Kyotani only growled in response, seething with anger. 

“Well then. Chibi-Chan, care to review the crime one more time to make everything crystal clear?” Oikawa asked with a smirk and a raised eyebrow. I smiled back and nodded. 

_“With pleasure.”_

“Now, here’s what happened in this case!” I shouted, piecing together everything quickly in my head, getting ready to review the crime. 

“Let’s start this from the beginning. So, earlier, everyone was around the school doing their own thing. Semi had decided to visit Terushima inside of his ultimate lab. This made him one of the prime suspects. After Semi had left, he returned to his dorm. That’s when Kyotani decided to visit. While Kyotani was in Terushima’s lab, some sort of fight had angered Kyotani, which enabled him to club Terushima with the pool stick he was most likely using. Kyotani had gotten blood onto his jacket, so he took it off and quickly hid it in a small closet. Then he left the scene, storming out of the lab, and Nishinoya was able to provide proof of this, because he watched him leave in an unfamiliar white shirt. Kyotani then waited it out inside of his dorm, so he wouldn’t have been suspected.” I began.

“That’s when Monokuma had alerted us that all that people were missing. Everyone but five people gathered in the dining hall. I showed up late because I had been taking a nap.” I continued. 

“I noticed one person was missing before I recognized the rest. Kageyama. So, I got nervous and began searching for him. I ran all around the school and checked everyone’s labs. Nishinoya and Asahi weren’t in the library because the murder had already occurred.” I added 

“The last lab I ran into was Terushima’s, where I had discovered his corpse. I started screaming, which alerted the rest of the group to catch up with me. Then, the body discovery announcement played, which then enabled the four who hadn’t been with us to come running. So the hid amongst us all and investigated with the rest of us.” I paused for a moment, closing my eyes and then opening them, to meet Kyotani’s burning ones. 

“Isn’t that right, Kyotani?!” I shouted. 

Kyotani was shaking, his knuckles still white from his iron grip on the podium, he was sputtering to form some kind of response but that seemed near impossible. 

“So, Kyotani, do you object to anything that has been said?” Oikawa asked, his narrowed gaze piercing, his expression serious and borderline disgusted. 

Kyotani huffed and puffed, stuttered and gasped to try and say something, but nothing ever came out. 

“So, you have no rebuttal?” Tsukishima asked snarkily. 

Kyotani said nothing. 

“Then it looks like… we are finished here.” Yaku said quietly. 

Kyotani said nothing. 

“B-But, why did you do it? What made you kill Terushima?” Yamaguchi asked weakly. 

Kyotani slowly released his grip on the podium, and finally leaned back. 

“I was there to wager a little with him, and that’s why the pool table was used,” Kyotani started, eerily quiet and calm.

“He was totally whooping my ass. This explains why my ring was in his pocket, I ended up betting that. Then, I bet him our secrets. You know, the ones from the motive. I played dirty, and ended up winning. At this point, I was so fed up with all the losses that I didn’t even feel good about the win. It was what he told me that pushed me over the edge. He told me that during most of his gambling he would cheat. It reminded me of my secret. So I got really pissed and whacked him in a fit of rage.” Kyotani admitted. 

Monokuma giggled from his spot on the throne. “We’ll go on, tell them all about your big ol’ secret!” Monokuma cheered. 

Kyotani huffed violently, but didn’t lash out this time. “I’m not actually Japan’s boxing champion.” He sighed, “I had actually lost the final match, it was so close that it could’ve easily been called either way, so my parents bribed the refs, and I was dubbed champion.” Kyotani sighed. “It’s funny cause I fuckin’ hate cheaters, but I am one. That’s why I got so angry when Terushima told me… I saw my stupid self in him.” Kyotani mumbled. 

We were all silent. So he truly didn’t kill just to kill, or to get out of here. He couldn’t help himself. But… that doesn’t make it right. 

Monokuma giggled again, “Looks like you’ve reached your verdict! Now then, are we ready to cast our votes?” He asked hypothetically. “You all have a lever in front of you, use that to cast your votes!” Monokuma exclaimed. 

“Oh, and just a reminder, make _triple_ sure you vote for someone! You wouldn’t want to be punished for something so minor, right?” He asked cheerfully. I shivered when I realized what he meant. It’s in the rules somewhere. Everyone must vote correctly or we all get punished. I guess that really means _everyone._

“Well then, here we go!” Monokuma cheered. “Who will be chosen as the blackened? Will you make the right choice, or the dreadfully wrong one?” Monokuma said, his voice dramatizing it all. 

I gulped. We all looked down at our levers and cast our votes. The floor in front of Monokuma’s high throne opened up, a slot machine rising out of it. 

When it had settled, it began to spin. It had little icons rush by, each of them were our heads. The machine began to slow down, three icons lining up with each other. They were all Kyotani’s icon. The machine began to chime, lights flashing and coins rushing out of it, like we had just won. The word “guilty” appeared below Kyotani’s icons. 

“Uh-oh! Looks like you got it right on the money!” Monokuma shouted. “The blackened in this case, the one who killed Terushima…” Monokuma trailed for suspense, “...was none other than Kentaro Kyotani!” He cackled. 

Kyotani was dead silent. His expression was anger mashed with fear, a nervous sweat present as he averted his eyes. The rest of us were silent too. 

“Now then, since you so magnificently revealed the identity of the killer during this class trial…” Monokuma started, “The blackened, Kentaro Kyotani will now receive his punishment!” Monokuma announced wickedly. 

“You don’t have to do this! This is all so wrong!” Suga shouted, pain in his strained voice. 

“This is all your fault,” Yaku said, looking at Monokuma, “He shouldn’t be punished for something you forced on us!” He shouted angrily. 

“Aww, defending your little murderer friend, how cute of you! But whining gets you nowhere! We’re gonna hurry up and get to what everyone’s been waiting for! I’ve prepared a very special punishment for Kentaro Kyotani, the Ultimate Boxer!” Monokuma cackled. 

Kyotani finally spoke up. “Please, don’t do this…” he mumbled, and it looked like he didn’t have the will or strength to say anything else. 

“Let’s give it everything we’ve got! It’s…PUNISHMENT TIIIME!” Monokuma squealed. The floor opened again, and a large red button on a pedestal rose up to Monokuma. Monokuma pulled out a gavel, giving it a twirl before smashing it down onto the button. 

_“No!”_ Kyotani gasped out. All of a sudden, a double door behind him flung open, a chain and neck collar flying towards him. Before Kyotani could react, the metal collar and chain reached him, the metal collar clamping around his throat and yanking him back towards the other room. We all rushed after him to see what was going to happen. 

The room he was yanked into was an arena, bright blinding spotlights hung from the ceiling, lighting up the boxing ring in the middle of the room. The boxing ring held one big blue robot in one corner, and an equally big red robot in the other. A large scoreboard was hanging above the boxing ring, where the words _“ROCK ‘EM SOCK ‘EM KYOTANI”_ slid across the screen on loop. 

Kyotani was slurped right in between the robots. They were a bit taller than him, and a lot buffer. The chain the pulled him in was attached to a slim pole, so he was caught by his neck. _He couldn’t move._

_-DING DING DING!-_

A loud bell rang out. All of a sudden, the robots started to stomp towards each other. Kyotani struggled in his binds, desperation clear in his eyes. 

Then, the robots began to punch. And punch. And punch. Kyotani served as their punching bag, taking every punch the robot threw at the other. Kyotani rocked back and forth, getting tossed between the force of the hits. Pink blood began to ooze from his eyes, his mouth, his nose, the robots effectively beating Kyotani to a pulp. 

We all watched from the pit, helplessly in horror, as Kyotani was thrown around like a ragdoll. I had no idea how long this back and forth went on, until eventually, the blue robot threw the last punch, causing Kyotani’s head to flop to the side, and the red one’s head to spring up. 

_It was over._

Kyotani’s body was limp, now crushed and bloody, hanging from a pole. His pink blood gushed from all different orifices, pooling at his feet on the once white boxing ring. 

The doors in front of us slammed, and we all turned around to face the courtroom again. 

What we saw… _that was the true face of despair._ If we couldn’t call it that, then what could we?

“Yahoo! Extreme!” Monokuma howled. A cackle followed that. 

“What… just happened…” I breathed out, so shocked, so scared, that I was drifting in and out of consciousness.

Yamaguchi was on the verge of tears, “I-I can’t take it anymore! I can’t do this!” He cried. 

“Weeeeeell, if you don’t like it, all you gotta do is swear to cut all ties with the outside world and accept living here forever!” Monokuma cheered morbidly. 

“Go to hell, you evil son of a bitch.” Tanaka spat. 

“Evil?” Monokuma squealed, like he was hurt. “You make it sound like I’m some dark, awful, secret society monster!” Monokuma wailed. 

“You are a monster, you bastard!” Kuroo growled, shocking a few of us with the fact that he expressed such heavy emotion. 

“Ooo, you must really hate me to get so angry. But you’re barking up the wrong tree pal! What happened, happened because more than one of you decided that you wanted to _get out,_ right?” Monokuma mocked. 

“Of course we want to get out! We’re trapped in this insane place!” Bokuto cried. 

“Trapped, are you? Just you wait until you uncover all the mysteries of this school! You’ll think boy, isn’t it great that I get to live here forever?” Monokuma exclaimed. 

“What are you trying to say?” Tsukishima questioned cautiously, his eyes narrowed behind his glasses. 

“I believe it has some deeper meaning, like what he said earlier about _everyone._ ” Oikawa stated. 

I thought back to what Monokuma said earlier. 

_“We’re gonna hurry up and get to what everyone’s been waiting for!”_

“Just who exactly were you talking about when you said everyone?” Oikawa questioned. 

“Sorry, I’ve said everything I need to say! Gotta save some fun for later!” Monokuma cackled, before bouncing away. 

And just like that, he was gone. Each and every one of us overwhelmed by a nightmare turned reality. No one even tried to speak. Their faces were stone, their voices dead. 

We stood there forever, or no, maybe it wasn’t that long, and like usual, time passed as slow as molasses, and people sluggishly began to board the elevator. Kageyama and I got on as well, sharing no reassuring words this time. This time we were all silent. We were all petrified. 

Kyotani’s bloody, crushed, hanging body will serve as a constant reminder of what we are up against. 

_True despair._

————————————————————————

This is all a bad joke, a sickening dream… but I have to accept the reality of it all. No one said much when we were heading back up from the trial. In fact, I don’t think anyone said anything. 

When we had all stepped out of the elevator, and made our way back to the dorms, it was still quiet. When we reached our rooms, Suga softly wished us all a goodnight, which not too many of us returned. I made sure to though. Suga was trying his very best to be the glue of this whole situation. I can only imagine how tired he must be. 

And with that, I was back in my room. My cookie-cutter, run-of-the-mill room. No mom or Natsu to wish me goodnight. I sighed, and looked at the time. It was nine p.m. I flopped onto the bed.

And I screamed. I screamed into my pillow. 

None of this was fair! It was just some sick entertainment, for some sick individual. I could barely take it, I didn’t want any of this to happen… we were all supposed to be friends. Not opponents in some deadly game. We are truly defenseless. Absolutely victim to this game. This torture. This despair. 

My thoughts continued like this for an hour. I sat, in that bed, that wasn’t mine, that wasn’t home, and simply stared at the ceiling. I was tired sure, but falling asleep felt wrong. My eyes burned from being so wide for so long. I blinked slowly, my tiredness taking a toll. 

_-Ding Dong, Bing Bong-_

Ah, the announcements. Must be nighttime already. 

“Ahem! This is a school announcement. It is now ten p.m. Which means it is officially night time! Buuuut, I have one more announcement for you all! A new floor has been opened! Which meeeaaans, new ultimate labs! These include the chemist, hiker, therapist, and babysitter labs. Feel free to explore them tomorrow! Now then, goodnight!” Monokuma announced, the broadcast quickly cutting out. 

That’s cool, I was wondering when we were going to get new labs. Also, a new floor? It made sense considering there was a stairway that had been blocked off, much like a store after the mall closes. That would be pretty interesting to investigate in the morning. But for right now, I was sleepy. 

_Sleepy…_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 𝚁𝙴𝙼𝙰𝙸𝙽𝙸𝙽𝙶 𝚂𝚃𝚄𝙳𝙴𝙽𝚃𝚂: 𝟸𝟶


	7. “I’m getting… sleepy…”

My eyes snapped open, my body jerking up and awake. I was slicked in a thick sheen of cold sweat, like I had been bathing in a bathtub of ice. 

Jerking forward so suddenly caused me to suck in a sharp deep breath, which prompted me to sputter and cough violently. 

I had this sense of unease, this dizziness and confusion, this unknown overwhelming source of grief. 

I had this queasy feeling, akin to that of going down the hill on a steep roller coaster. Like my organs had shifted, my heart and stomach dropped, and there was a heavy weight on my head. I hadn’t had a nightmare, no… 

_Something isn’t right._

My head whipped to the clock resting on my dresser, my body still gulping in overwhelming amounts of air. It was five-forty in the morning. My breathing was reduced to small pants of nervousness. 

_I never wake up this early. Especially not on my own._

Something is definitely wrong. _Very wrong._ I scrambled out of my bed, my face scrunching up at the uncomfortable reminder that my bed was soaked with cool sweat. 

My wobbly legs carried me as fast as they could to my dresser, to slip on socks and shoes. I didn’t even bother to fix up my hair or wash my face. 

I scurried over to the door, stumbling over my unstable legs, vision bleary from having just woken up. My eyes stung from the build-up of water and eye crusties, and my stomach swirled and churned with anxiety unknown. 

I gripped at the doorknob, my sweaty hand slipping off a few times before my trembling fingers got a grip. I exhaled unevenly and twisted the doorknob hastily, throwing the door open. 

The first thing my blurry eyes caught sight of…

_Was a body._

I felt queasy, like I was going to pass out. The body wasn’t even fully registered as my eyes jumped from place to place, taking into account just what—why—who I was looking at.

It felt as if there were nails on a chalkboard, a screeching violin much too close to my ears, playing on loop as I examined the body in front of me. 

Black pants, a white button-up… and fresh blood  
gushing out of a head. 

The body was on its back, hair slightly messed up. Their eyes were closed...

A head with grey hair. Tie-dyed with fluorescent pink blood. 

_No…_

A shriek tore through me like a piece of jagged glass. My eyes grew impossibly wide, my pulse quickened, my heart thudding in my chest as if it were a rock being shaken around in a box. My mouth rigid and hanging open, all the blood drained from my face. My throat raw, the scream made up of pure petrifaction. The scream was guttural.

_He was the glue… the glue keeping us together—_

Suddenly someone burst out of their room, panic contorting their expression. As soon as their eyes locked with the body on the floor, they shouted. 

_“Suga!”_

And bolted towards his body. 

_Daichi..._

A few other doors flung open, our screams like some sort of grave alarm. Yaku, Kageyama, Kuroo, Akaashi. They all wore similar expressions of worry. 

“Is everyone alright?” Yaku asked, yelling out the words frantically. 

Daichi tumbled over his own feet, still rushing down the hall to Suga, falling to his knees and clutching the babysitter’s limp body against his. 

Blood was still dripping from his head. 

“Someone please get Iwaizumi,” Daichi gasped out, clutching Suga tighter. 

_“Now!”_ He shouted, the sheer desperation and urgency in his voice making my legs move before I could even make a coherent thought. 

I rushed over to Iwaizumi‘s door, my fisted hand jittering against the wood, hard pounding noises emitting from the force. 

“Uh—Ahh—Iwa please wake up we need you like—“  
I paused, my eyes glancing back to Suga and Daichi, “Right now!” I pleaded.

I heard some shuffling from the other side of the door, and then soft padding of feet making their way towards the door. 

I stepped back shakily when I heard the doorknob begin to rattle, opening swiftly to reveal a drowsy Iwa. Fortunately, when his eyes met Suga and Daichi, he woke right up and darted towards them. 

More people were up now, Ushijima, Semi, Yamaguchi, Nishinoya, and Asahi, who had run over to Suga as well. 

Then there was Oikawa, who stood in front of his door, arms crossed, gaze on the scene unreadable, and clad in all silk pajamas. 

_That asshole!_

I scoffed and turned my head back to Suga. Asahi was on his hands and knees, face red and eyes watery as he looked at Suga. Daichi gently passed Suga over to Iwaizumi, who took him into his arms with an equal amount of care. 

We all watched silently as the medic in question surveyed Suga’s body, presumably looking for more wounds. Iwaizumi quietly checked Suga’s pulse points, huffing in relief, “He’s still breathing.”

“Well no duh, the body discovery announcement never went off. Did you guys seriously think he was dead?” Oikawa asked harshly, which made Iwaizumi growl. 

“You are so lucky I need to tend to him or I’d beat your sorry ass, Trashy-kawa!” Iwaizumi barked, snapping forward towards Oikawa, which made Suga flop around in his grip a little. 

Daichi looked petrified, Asahi about to faint. 

Oikawa let out a snark hum, rolling his eyes and casting his gaze away from Iwaizumi. 

“Daichi, would you mind taking Suga back for a second? I have some first aid in my room.” Iwaizumi asked. “His injury isn’t anything fatal,” he added, “It’ll only take a few moments to patch him up.” 

Daichi nodded, looking more relieved, carefully taking Suga back and cradling him close to his chest. Asahi sighed shakily and held onto one of Suga’s arms. 

Iwaizumi stood up quietly, shooting Oikawa a glare, who held up a peace sign and gave him a wink, before walking briskly back towards his room. 

“Please go wake the others, we need to figure out the meaning of this.” Asahi said quietly. 

A few people nodded, going to retrieve who they were close with. Nishinoya, Yaku, Ushijima, Yamaguchi, Akaashi, and Kuroo. 

“Hinata, did you see anything happen?” Daichi asked, much calmer now, but I could just tell he was still on edge. He had some deep pain in his eyes. 

I sighed jitteringly, still shaken up from the pure shock of seeing Suga on the floor and bloody. 

“No… I opened my door because I felt like something wasn’t right, and I just saw Suga laying here.” I recalled, thinking back to the bone-chilling moment when his body was revealed to me like the grand bow of a performance. 

“I see,” Daichi said, his expression now unreadable as he gazed down at Suga's face once more. 

A door softly closed, Iwaizumi swiftly making his way back to Suga and Daichi. He was carrying a large first aid kit. 

“From my assessments,” Iwaizumi started quietly, kneeling back down to Suga, “This wound was caused by a slip-and-fall incident.” Iwaizumi said, taking out a roll of gauze, cotton balls, and bacitracin. “Thankfully, blood loss isn’t the reason he was unconscious,” Iwaizumi spoke, cleaning up the blood that had not yet dried with care. Spraying bacitracin on a cotton ball, he began to dab it on Suga’s wound, “The bleeding has stopped, so Suga should be able to take a shower to get the dried blood out.” 

“That’s a relief…” Daichi sighed. 

“Yeah, thank goodness.” Asahi agreed. 

“I feel so awful, is there anything we can do?” I asked quietly, crouching down to observe Suga unconscious form with ruth eyes. 

“Well for starters, you two could leave him alone.” Daichi scolded. 

I looked up and saw Tanaka and Noya flushed bright red and sputtering. 

“That is true though,” Yaku said, his voice strained as he dragged a whining Lev down the hall by his wrist, “It’s probably a good idea to let him rest for a while.” Yaku finished, delivering a whack to the side of Lev’s stomach. Lev yelped in response and Yaku continued to scold him. 

“Huh, looks like we finally agree on something.” Kuroo shrugged, making Yaku roll his eyes, “But, someone should look after Suga, while we wait for him to wake up.” He added. He was carrying a half-asleep Kenma on his back, who was forcing his eyes open to keep tapping away on his game. 

I looked up from Iwaizumi’s ministrations to see everyone was now present, Yamaguchi and Tsukishima just walking in. 

Then, that dreaded jingle started again. 

_-Ding Dong, Bing Bong-_

A tv that hung in the middle of the dormitory corridor in between two rooms had lit up. It was Monokuma again. 

“Good morning students! You’re all up bright and early!” Monokuma cackled. “I’d like everyone to make their way to the Gymnasium for an assembly!” Monokuma cheered, the broadcast cutting out before answering any of our questions. 

Daichi sighed, and carefully picked Suga up. 

“I’ll lay him down in his room for now, but I am not happy about this,” Daichi said, narrowing his eyes at the screen, “Monokuma better make this quick.” He huffed, making his way to Suga’s room. 

“This must have something to do with Monokuma since he wants to see us, correct?” Akaashi asked quietly. 

“Oh! That’s totally true!” Bokuto exclaimed. 

“We can only wonder what that little shit wants…” Tanaka muttered through a clenched jaw. 

“Yes, but like before our only choice is to comply. We have no idea what this guy is capable of.” Oikawa stated, his eyes narrowed, “I have a feeling we’ve only had a taste.” He added. 

Nishinoya whimpered, “This is actual bullshit.” He looked after to a mopey Daichi, his frown deepening, “Do you think the bear went after Soogs?” 

“I dunno, but I’m kiiiiinda disappointed we didn’t get to see it.” Tendo drawled, bringing his arms up like he was holding plates in his palms and shrugging. 

“Dude! Don’t say creepy stuff like that!” Bokuto whined, gripping onto Akaashi’s shoulders. Akaashi remained stoic, somehow unfazed by the yelling of the Aikido master, and sighed. 

“We should head to the Gym now. We shouldn’t keep Monokuma waiting.” Akaashi suggested quietly. 

Yamaguchi nodded frantically, “I-I don’t wanna find out what happens if we do!” He squealed. It got him a “shut up” from Tsukishima in return, and well, you can guess what happened from there. 

“Let’s go then,” Kageyama said quietly. 

I nodded, scurrying over to Kageyama’s side. I pulled on his track jacket gently, getting his attention. 

“Hm?” He hummed, glancing down at me. 

“Do you think this has to do with Suga?” I questioned quietly. Kageyama’s eyebrows knit closely together. I stared up at him as we continued to walk to the gym.

“No clue.” He said, stuffing his hands into his pockets. “But what I do know,” he continued, looking at me now, “Is that nothing about this can be good.” His tone was grave. 

As usual, as soon as Monokuma gets involved we’re all reduced to silence. We all trudged silently to the gym. It was like every time we were reminded of this killing game we lost a piece of our souls. Our vengeance, our resilience, our hope…

Being watered down to nothing but _despair._

The big doors of the gym stood tall in front of us once more. They served as the wrapping to some sort of Pandora’s box that was waiting to unleash from the very inside of that gymnasium. Kageyama and I were ahead of everyone else, and we shared a glance before opening the doors together. We held them for the people behind us before walking in. 

Monokuma sat on the podium in the middle of the stage, waiting for us all to come flooding in. 

“Heya kiddos! Mr. Monokuma has a very special announcement for you all!” He cheered, spreading his arms wide. 

“Oh really? Enlighten us.” Tsukishima spat. 

Monokuma snickered into his paws, “I’d love to!” He pushed his paws against the podium, his stubby legs scrambling around to get him onto his feet. He stood up tall and proud, his hands on his hips, “I have a new motive for you all!” He exclaimed. 

You have got to be kidding me… a new motive? As in, a reason to kill? A cruel jab to make us all scared of each other again? 

“I know that you teenagers struggle with that,” Monokuma added, leaning forward, “I’m lookin’ at you Tadashi!” He chided, causing Yamaguchi to blush and look down. 

“So, our motive this time around is a fun one!” Monokuma began, pacing around on what little space he had on the podium. “With every hour that goes by, one of you will be rendered unconscious. This will be caused by an injection I put inside you all while you were sleepin’ my like babies!” Monokuma cackled, “The catch is if more than half of you fall asleep…” Monokuma started, his wicked red eye gleaming with danger and despair, “You will all die!” He shouted, laughing maniacally clutching at his stomach. 

Noises left from all different directions. Whimpers, gasps, even cries left everyone’s mouths. All of us truly no match for Monokuma, we just stayed silent and let him continue. 

“Anyways! As you might’ve seen, good Ol’ Sugawara was our first victim to snooze and lose! He took quite the tumble though, the injection kicked in right when he was out and about in the hallway, he totally knocked his noggin’!” Monokuma explained cheerfully, punctuating the entire thing with hand movements. 

“You guys were all like boo-hoo, oh no he’s dead! Poor Suga!” Monokuma mocked. Daichi growled defensively, glaring at the bear with absolute hatred in his eyes. He seemed to lose his cool when it came to Suga. I just wonder why… Daichi is amazing at staying calm and alert especially when the going gets rough—but, Suga was really getting to him. 

“I mean—I wish! But I’m sure I’ll have a nice corpse in the next few hours! Remember kiddos, the clock is ticking as we speak. Every hour one of ya it’s gonna be out cold!” Monokuma sang, jabbing his paw at the clock behind him. 

“Anywho, I don’t wanna waste your precious time before you all go to nappy-town! Later!” He squealed, jumping behind the podium and disappearing. 

“Man… I hope I don’t fall asleep. I have a level to finish.” Kenma sighed, starting up his console again. 

Well, he certainly seemed unthreatened. 

“Everyone should be with someone during this time. It’s extremely unsafe considering what happened to Sugawara. You all heard Monokuma, this will be at random.” Daichi announced seriously, his arms crossed. 

Yaku stepped forward, his face equally stern and his arms mirroring Daichi’s, “We can all carry about our days as usual, but we should definitely…” Yaku slurred, fumbling around a bit, “Watch out… for each other…” Yaku suddenly slumped, gripping onto Lev’s shirt, his eyes drooping so low it looked like his entire body was going with them.

“Yaku!” Lev gasped, securing his arms tightly around him, carefully holding up his weight with their size difference. 

_“Shit…”_ Yaku cursed, whining and eyes twitching. 

_He was trying to fight it!_

Lev looked mortified like he was praying that just holding Yaku was enough. 

“Yaku are you alright? What’s going on?” Iwaizumi intervened, jogging over to him and Lev. 

“I’m getting… _sleepy…_ ” Yaku mumbled, his choking out through clenched teeth. 

“Yaku don’t fight it, please! I-I’m here!” Lev cried, now picking up Yaku with ease, and cradling him like a baby koala, his arms hooked under his thighs. 

“Lev…” Yaku mumbled, reluctantly giving in and laying his head down on the junction between his neck and collar bone. His eyes fluttered shut as Lev rubbed reassuring circles on his back. 

Lev’s lip quivered, much like a baby who was about to burst into tears. 

“Wah! What do I do? What do I do?!” Lev panicked, frantically looking around at all of us. 

“Just calm down you tall idiot!” I blurted back, just as startled and unsure as he was. 

“Chillax Chibi-Chan, you’re both being dramatic,” Kuroo said, in that shady, mysterious way of his. And he had that damn smirk on his face. 

“Yeah, little man! Me and my bro wanna hang out in my dojo!” Bokuto exclaimed, holding out his fist, which Kuroo bumped gladly. 

“When did you two even become friends?” Akaashi asked quietly, seemingly irked. 

“As soon as I laid my eyes on that fine ass!” Kuroo grinned, making Kenma grumble and scowl beside him. 

Bokuto laughed heartily, wrapping his arm around Kuroo’s shoulder, “Well, ‘Kaashi, since you’re always so busy, sometimes I make new friends!” He pouted. 

Akaashi hummed, his expression still unmoving. “I told you Bokuto, I’d start coming to your dojo. Would you like that to be today?” He asked slowly like he was talking to a child. 

Bokuto squealed, absolute stars in his eyes, engulfing Akaashi into a spine breaking, breathtaking hug. Breathtaking as in, Akaashi turned a little blue. 

“Oh, Akaashi! I knew ya loved me!” Bokuto exclaimed, nuzzling his cheek into Akaashi’s hair. Akaashi looked stiff—offput in the beginning, but slowly melted into Bokuto’s grip. 

“Yes, Bokuto. We…” Akaashi paused, really fast too, but continued, “Should all go our separate ways now. We have much free time.” Akaashi seemed off. He was worried? About something. 

“Um? Guys!” Lev squealed, “I still have a dude in my arms!” He shrieked, glancing back between us and a sleeping Yaku. 

“Didn’t we already decide to lay those who fall asleep down in their rooms? Or were you just not listening?” Tsukishima scoffed, fixing his glasses. 

“Just take him to his room, man!” Tanaka shrugged.

Lev gazed down at Yaku nervously but nodded. “Okay. I’ll take him.” Lev sighed, hiking Yaku up higher. 

Yaku didn’t even stir—he was out cold. It was the same for Suga, but it was so unnerving, the amount of power Monokuma had. Just what kind of stuff did he inject in us? And, we only had so much time until he would kill us all? Half of us, huh? That’s ten. Ten people would be knocked unconscious, and all of us would die if one more would? But what were we supposed to do… just take it? I liked the idea of actually using our free time. 

There was also that new floor Monokuma mentioned. It had new labs, but that was about all he mentioned. I should ask Kageyama if he’d like to investigate with me. 

“I’m going to check on Suga, then I’ll be exploring upstairs,” Daichi announced. “Feel free to drop by my lab.” He smiled, then politely excused himself from the gym.

“Sounds cool Daichi!” Tanaka and Nishinoya exclaimed at the same time.

Everyone else was in their groups again. Lev and Yaku had left; Lev carrying Yaku to his dorm. Nishinoya left with Asahi, so I guessed they were going to the library. Tendo bounced beside Ushijima, the two walking out together. Iwaizumi was about to leave alone but Oikawa caught up to him, whining about something until Iwa let him tag along. Or at least tolerated it. 

Yamaguchi followed behind Tsukishima, who was talking with Akaashi. They seemed to have a good conversation going—that was until Bokuto and Kuroo came into the equation. Kuroo made some comment that Tsukishima had absolutely none of, scoffing and topping it off with an eye roll. How kind of him. Kuroo just gave him a dopey smirk, totally unfazed by the sass. Tsukishima said his goodbye to Akaashi, flat out ignoring Bokuto and Kuroo. Yamaguchi waved quickly, excusing himself and scurrying away, yelping a ‘wait up Tsukki!’ 

Kuroo and Bokuto roughed each other up and joked around, chuckling while Akaashi silently walked in front of them. Akaashi gave a polite nod to me, so I gave a peppy wave in response. Kuroo and Bokuto waved back, Bokuto’s a lot rougher than Kuroo’s more laid back approach. 

Kenma, Tanaka, and Semi followed shortly after that, exiting and making their way towards the dormitories. 

Then, it was me and Kageyama left again.

“How come we’re always the last ones left?” I giggled, crossing my arms. 

Kageyama gave a small, almost unnoticeable, lopsided smile. “No clue,” Kageyama responded, mouth in a pout and eyes looking over his shoulder. Then, his eyes snapped back to me, a challenging glint in them. “Probably because no one wants to deal with your dumbass but me.” He smirked. It could put Kuroo to shame. 

“Hey! Stop it with the dumbass!” I growled, but it was on a playful side. Kageyama took this as a challenge, stepping forward towards me. 

“Oh really? What are you gonna do about it, Hinata?” Kageyama countered, absolutely towering over me. He was doing it on purpose! 

“I’m gonna totally beat you upstairs!” I shouted, getting a head start and darting out the door. I may not have a cool talent like everyone else, but I sure could run! 

“Hinata you bastard!” Kageyama barked, chasing after me. 

I started to laugh, this was kinda fun! And maybe my ears were deceiving me, but it sounded like Kageyama was laughing too. 

I glanced over my shoulder quickly, almost screaming at the sight of Kageyama rushing after me in brisk strides. I didn't know if I should double over in laughter or scream for my life! He looked like deer. His arms were so stiff too, what, did he think we were at the Olympics? He’s too serious for his own good. 

“I’m so gonna beat you dumbass!” Kageyama shouted, starting to catch up. 

I squealed, not daring to look back at him. He was way too close this time. 

All of a sudden, he was right at my side. We both staggered, neither of us getting a good lead. It was back and forth. 

We met eyes, growling at each other, approaching the top of the staircase. It was almost there—the imaginary finish line—I was so going to win! 

Then, I slipped, fumbling over my own feet, I stumbled towards Kageyama, who instinctively caught me, which threw him off balance, causing both of us to fall over. 

The position we landed in—cliche as ever—was extremely embarrassing. 

I had fallen on top of Kageyama, the descent towards the ground causing my arms to spring out to break any sort of fall. My palms pressed against his firm, heaving chest. 

His hands were slightly higher than where my hips ended, squeezing my sides protectively. It tickled. 

I burst out laughing, the compromising position being the cherry that topped the dysfunctional cake of our little race. But, I could happily confirm one thing;

 _Kageyama was laughing with me._

He wasn’t trying to hide it, in fact, he burst out right after I did. 

“Hinatah-ha-ha-ha! Get—pftt—off you dumbass—” Kageyama chuckled, squirming beneath me and gripping at my wrists now. 

“Only if you admit I won!” I giggled back, planting my palms into his chest harder, leaning more weight on him. 

“Nuh-ho way!” Kageyama huffed out, breathless from our laughing and running combo. He quickly rolled to the side and flipped us over, and in one smooth motion, he had me pinned to the ground. 

“I totally beat you.” Kageyama grinned, keeping me pinned down for a moment while we caught our breath. 

Slowly Kageyama peeled off of me, standing up and brushing himself off, and extending a hand for me. I sat up and took it. 

“Let’s go investigate,” Kageyama said, a small smile on his lips. 

“Yeah,” I responded with a grin. 

Kageyama pulled me up gently, carefully lifting me to my feet. The hallway the stairs led up was split in two, the rest of the corridor stretching farther ahead, and another to the right of us. 

“How about we check down here?” I asked, pointing towards the hall to the right. Kageyama gave a shrug and a hum, beginning to walk with me. 

Tall doors lined each side of the hallway. Small signs hung by the top of each door. Each sign read numbers one through six, then dash a. 

So these must be more classrooms. I walked up to a door labeled two dash a, and slowly turned the knob. Kageyama followed close behind. 

A slight push of the door revealed a room—identical to the one I had woken up in. The same funky giraffe walls, and chalkboard, and the same desks. 

“So it’s… just another classroom?” Kageyama asked, walking in, his eyes darting from desk to desk, from wall to wall, absorbing his surroundings. 

“Yeah, I guess so. This must really be Hope’s Peak.” I replied, putting my hands on my hips. 

“That probably means that all these classrooms are the same then,” Kageyama stated, beginning to walk out. “If there’s nothing new why don’t we just go look at that other hall? Must be the labs right?” He asked. 

“Oh yeah, that’s right! I bet they’re super cool.” I gushed, squishing my cheeks. 

“Don’t be a nerd, dumbass.” Kageyama scoffed, walking out of the room. 

“Hey! Nerd or dumbass, pick one Bakageyama!” I shouted, scurrying after him. He just huffed a laugh and kept walking. 

Kageyama and I made it back to the start of the floor, this time walking straight forward to the hallway with labs. 

“Hey, what are you two knuckleheads doing?” A voice boomed. 

Both of our heads snapped to it—

“Hi, Daichi!” I said, waving excitedly. 

“Hey,” Kageyama muttered. 

“How are you boys feeling? Nothing weird I hope?” Daichi questioned. 

“Nope, I feel great!” I responded. Kageyama just shook his head. 

“How is… Suga?” Kageyama asked quietly, almost carefully. 

Daichi sighed and walked up to us. “He’s still asleep. I’m just glad he’s still alive. He threw me for a loop there.” Daichi chuckled. It was solemn though. He was just putting on a brave face, wasn’t he?

“I’m so relieved he’s okay…” I whispered, fiddling with my fingers. 

Daichi clapped a hand on my shoulder, rubbing it reassuringly. “I wouldn’t worry about Suga. He’s tough.” Daichi smiled, “Let’s go check out these labs, okay?” He suggested. 

Kageyama and I nodded. Together the three of us made our way towards the first door. It was light brown and painted with trees. 

“Ah, this must be Lev’s,” Daichi said, stepping up to the door and examining it.

“That would explain the trees.” I shrugged. 

Daichi turned the doorknob and stepped right into the lab. The walls were painted similar to the door, each of the four covered in towering trees and bushes, mountains coating the misty horizon. The lab filled with different types of equipment hanging up, boots, bags, a few pairs of trekking poles—even different brands of bug spray! One side of the room was dedicated to a rock climbing wall, tall and wide, and for sure hard to climb. Is this seriously what tall people do? So overrated! 

“Wow, it's fully decked out, huh?” Daichi asked with a slight chuckle. 

“I’m surprised they didn’t put an actual mountain in here, I seriously bet the school has the money!” I squealed, looking around in disbelief. 

“Is it really that great, stupid Hinata?” Kageyama muttered under his breath. 

“Hey! I heard you!” I shouted, pouting. 

“Oh yeah? And what are you going to do about it?” Kageyama challenged, getting up in my face. I growled, getting ready to snap back, but I was yanked far away from Kageyama’s face. 

Daichi had grabbed both of us by the back of our shirts, much like a cat by the scruff, and pulled us apart. “What is the matter with you two? Can you not be at each other's throats for five minutes?” Daichi barked, far more angry than disappointed. 

“Sorry, Daichi…” Kageyama and I muttered, stepped back, and out of his now softened iron grip. Daichi just sighed. 

“Let’s check out the next room, alright?” Daichi asked, walking out. I snapped my head towards Kageyama, and he did the same, and we flared at each other before walking out with Daichi. And fighting over who got to leave the room first. 

“I don’t think we should inspect these labs that much, they aren’t much to gawk at. We’ll just take a quick look, alright boys?” Daichi said as soon as we caught up to him.

I whined in disappointment but huffed out fine. Kageyama just shrugged. 

The next door down was white, blue flowers dancing across the wood. Vibrant green vines wrapped in with the flowers, small rain droplets sprinkling the leaves. 

“Woah! This door’s so pretty!” I exclaimed, running up to it. 

“I have no clue who’s lab this is though,” I said, grabbing the knob and opening it. 

The room was painted white but entirely masked up by posters and colorful wall stickers. The floor was covered with a puzzle piece rug. Buckets of toys neatly lined walls, small cubbies stacked upon each other. Hooks for coats, blankets and bears, even a choo choo train set! 

“Ohhh! This must be Suga’s!” I gasped in realization. 

“What gave it away? The kid’s toys or the cuteness?” Daichi snickered, picking up a bear and wiggling it around. 

I laughed too, “It does suit him though! It’s a shame that he doesn’t have any kids to babysit…” I pouted looking around at the colorful room. 

“Oh, I’m sure you and Kageyama are fulfilling enough with that role.” Daichi teased, making me and Kageyama go red. 

“We should go check the next room…” Kageyama mumbled, walking out. I giggled at his embarrassment and followed. 

We continued to the next door. This one was a six-panel door, an iron-gray being the main color. The square indents on the door white, with almost a green tint to them. The same grey interjecting through that, creating swirls and floral patterns. 

Kageyama silently opened the door, stepping inside. 

The room had a large brown leather couch, a matching loveseat right across from it, two armchairs at its side, angled in towards a round coffee table. Paintings lined the light gray walls, one of a beach, and another of a sunset. In one corner there was a large fan palm plant, its leaves creeping up the wall. 

“Gah!” Daichi gasped, running over to one of the couches. “Mr. Stuffykins!” He exclaimed. 

“Who now?” I asked, one eyebrow raising. I glanced over at Kageyama, who shook his head and shrugged, just as lost as me. 

Daichi turned around, and held up a big brown bear with a red bow around its neck. He had a big smile on his face. “This is Mr. Stuffykins. I give him to people when they need help calming down. He's like my partner in crime with my therapy work.” Daichi grinned, making my eyes sparkle. 

“Oh my god! Can I please, please, please hold Mr. Stuffykins?!” I squealed, making grabby hands at the bear. 

“Of course you can.” Daichi chuckled heartily, handing the stuffed bear to me. I squealed again, giving the bear a tight squeeze.

“Holy crap, he’s so soft!” I wailed, nuzzling my cheek into the bear’s head. 

I looked up at Kageyama whose gaze was cast to the side, an upset pout on his face. He had the slightest pink tint to his cheeks and the tips of his ears. 

I giggled and pushed Mr. Stuffykins into Kageyama’s chest, making him snap his attention back over to me, confusion and embarrassment written all over his face. Oh geez, you could read him like a book! 

“Go on, give him a hug Kageyama!” I exclaimed, pushing Mr. Stuffykins a little harder. Kageyama huffed and ripped the bear away from me. 

“Happy now?” He spat, holding the bear’s middle between the two of his hands. I stayed silent and gave him a smug smirk. Kageyama slowly succumbed to Mr. Stuffykins' fluffily wrath, wrapping his arms around the bear and giving him a real hug. Kageyama sighed and pressed his mouth up against the back of the bear’s head, “Okay… I guess he is kinda soft…” Kageyama grumbled, his words muffled by Mr. Stuffykin’s fur. I smiled and laughed again at Kageyama’s embarrassment. 

Kageyama rolled his eyes and handed the bear back over to Daichi, after hugging him for what seemed a little too long for someone who didn’t wanna hug him in the first place. 

“Alright, that leaves Kuroo’s lab,” Daichi said, putting Mr. Stuffykins back on the couch. “Let’s go take a quick peak okay knuckleheads?” Daichi grinned, making his way out of the Therapy Lab. Kageyama and I followed right after. 

The last door, which led to the Ultimate Chemist lab, was nothing special. It looked like the typical door at a hospital, white with a handle instead of a knob, and a long rectangular window stretching until the middle of the door. 

Daichi leaned in towards the door to take a quick peek at what was inside. 

“There seems to be a lot of chemicals and such around. I don’t think it’s a safe idea to go inside.” Daichi stated, looking back at us. “It’s a normal lab, so I don’t think we’d need to go in anyways.” He added. 

Kageyama and I shrugged. 

“I mean I guess that’s fine,” I grumbled, “Ooh! Why don’t we go visit Bokuto, Kuroo, and Akaashi?” I gasped, looking at Kageyama in excitement. 

“You say we as if I’m coming along.” Kageyama spat, his eyes narrowed.

_It took two minutes of puppy eyes and a small intervention from Daichi for Kageyama to tag along._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 𝚁𝙴𝙼𝙰𝙸𝙽𝙸𝙽𝙶 𝚂𝚃𝚄𝙳𝙴𝙽𝚃𝚂: 𝟸𝟶


	8. Down for the count

"I hate you so much,” Kageyama grumbled, trudging down the hall towards Bokuto’s dojo. I rolled my eyes. 

“You’re so lying if you say you don’t wanna go. Bokuto is so cool!” I countered. 

“Yeah, sure, but that Kuroo guy pisses me off,” Kageyama muttered. Okay, I could agree with that one. 

“Well suck it up Yamayama! Or do I need to get Mr. Stuffykins for you?” I snickered.

Kageyama gave me one of those creepy fish-like side-eye glares, with the intense burning in his eyes. I immediately stopped giggling and yelped, jumping back and holding my arms up in defense. 

“Still a dumbass, Hinata.” Kageyama insulted, walking up to the shoji screen slider, carefully slipping his shoes off and putting them inside a small cubby next to the bottom of the door frame. 

I did the same, being left in only my socks. Kageyama couldn’t exactly knock, so he slid the door open slowly. 

The lab was a typical dojo, polished hardwood floors, and mats laid out in the middle. Scrolls with kanjis hung from the walls, along with shelves displaying sheathed katanas. Sections of the wall were out shoji screen as well. A small single changing room stood at the back right corner. 

On the mat, Bokuto was in his normal judo uniform, his black belt tied tight and a matching tied headband around his forehead. Kuroo stood with him, in the same robes, except his belt was red.

The two of them were engaged in a spar, swift chops, and ducks of the head as they dodged between one another. Bokuto hadn’t even broken a sweat, despite how fast he was moving, and how loud he was punctuating the swinging of his arms with yells. Despite how focused he was, he looked totally ticked off from being shut down so much. 

Kuroo wasn’t far gone either, simply sweating a bit at the brow and panting lightly. 

Akaashi was at the edge of the mat, sitting on his knees, his arms placed one over the other in his lap. He was watching the two fight with intent, his sharp eyes snapping around.

Akaashi had on a judo uniform as well, his belt navy blue. It was big for him, the wrists of it sagging over his knuckles. The top hung open wider than usual, revealing his defined collarbones. 

Akaashi looked over at the open door to me and Kageyama, not bothering to turn his head, simply gliding his eyes over to us. 

“Hello Hinata, Kageyama.” Akaashi greeted with his usual polite nod. I waved to him happily, Kageyama giving a smaller one. 

I looked back over to the fight. 

Kuroo threw a powerful chop, which Bokuto dodged swiftly, ducking under it and planting his body in front of Kuroos, his back facing him. 

Before Kuroo could comprehend and yank his arm back, Bokuto grabbed a hold of his wrist and forearm, yanking down and bending his knees, causing Kuroo to be launched forward, coming crashing down on his back. 

Kuroo was slammed down onto the mat with a painful thud. 

“Bokuto—you— _son of a bitch!_ ” Kuroo gasped out, curling into a ball and groaning. 

Bokuto simply huffed out breaths, looking totally dazed as he stared down Kuroo’s weeping form. After a small moment of silence—apart from Kuroo’s quiet groans—Bokuto started to laugh quietly, then louder, and louder until—

_“Alright!_ I am the best martial artist ever! Hey, hey, hey!” Bokuto shouted in victory, jumping around and pumping both fists in the air. 

Bokuto snapped his head over to Akaashi, “Did you see that Akaashi? I mean seriously, did you freakin’ see my shoulder throw I just did?” He squealed, tossing around his body excitedly. Akaashi nodded, his eyes drooping lazily and closing. 

“Yes, Bokuto. That was pretty amazing.” Akaashi praised, although this never-changing flat tone made it come across as sarcasm. 

Sarcasm or not, Bokuto squealed again, happily accepting the praise. He had a little moment before extending a hand to Kuroo, helping him right up. Kuroo took it after shooting Bokuto a nasty look, but they both laughed. 

“Ah, Chibi-Chan and Kageyama are here.” Kuroo quipped, crossing his arms over his chest. 

Bokuto snapped his head over his shoulder and smiled toothily, turning to face us. “Wassup shrimpy and serious tracksuit guy!” Bokuto exclaimed, making Kageyama huff. 

“It’s Kageyama,” Kageyama said through a clenched jaw. 

“Sure, Kagey-blehlehleh, what’s up?” Bokuto slurred, flicking his wrist around lazily. 

“We wanted to visit! By the way, this lab is so cool!” I gushed, my eyes sparkling in adoration at the elegant scenery, from the literal katanas to the shoji on the walls. I was so jealous! I wonder what my lab will be like? If I even get one that is. 

“Woah, someone gets it! This place is totally sick, Huh?” Bokuto chuckled proudly, placing his hands on his hips with pride. 

I nodded my head rapidly and excitedly, making Bokuto chuckle harder. 

“Hey, uh, how's everyone doing?” Kageyama spoke up, stuffing his hands into his pockets. 

“Ah. I almost forgot, Kenma was one to pass out.” Kuroo stated, speaking up again when he noticed the worry on my face, “It’s not all bad though, I’m sure he needed the sleep one way or another.” Kuroo rubbed on the back of his neck and laughed sheepishly. “I’m gonna go check up on him,” Kuroo said, walking to the small changing station in the far corner of the room. 

Bokuto pouted at this, but gasped loudly and gripped my shoulders. “Once Kuroo’s changed you can wear the uniform and I can teach you all about Aikido!” Bokuto shouted, shaking me around crazily. 

“That’d be so cool!” I beamed. Bokuto was seriously one of the coolest people here, and he wanted to take me— _me_ , Shoyo Hinata, the freakin’ Lucky Student under his wing? Heck yes! I had no clue how he wasn’t completely exhausted, but I totally want to learn!

Kuroo came out shortly, in his typical lab coat and slacks. He had the uniform folded neatly in his arms, which he handed to me. I squealed, hugging it to my chest. 

“Later, guys.” Kuroo waved, then holding out his fist for Bokuto, “Blow it up bro!” He grinned, to which Bokuto more than happily bumped his fist, the two of them popping their fingers out and making an explosion noise. Kuroo smiled again and left. 

“Alright shrimpy-doo, go get changed!” Bokuto whooped, making me scurry over to the changing station. 

While I was closing the curtain to the small room, I saw Kageyama making his way over to Akaashi, who was engaged in conversation with Bokuto. 

Akaashi seemed welcoming, offering Kageyama the faintest of smiles when he kneeled down with him. Akaashi said something, to which Bokuto gave a thumbs up and walked back to the center of the mat, beginning to stretch. 

I smiled at this, not noticing how wide it was until I faced the full-body mirror. 

_I was really happy for Kageyama, he was actually making more friends!_

————————————————————————

I kneeled next to Akaashi quietly, not finding the voice nor the words to greet him. Akaashi smiled gently as if he was welcoming me to sit with him. I smiled back—to the best of my abilities—and got comfortable. 

“Bokuto, please make sure to stretch. I don’t want you getting hurt.” Akaashi said, to which Bokuto accepted cheerfully, running back over to the middle of the mats. 

“So,” I started, watching Hinata emerge from the changing room, the robes big for him, just like how they fit on Akaashi. Hinata looked dumb, but… the good kind of dumb? The kind of dumb that makes heat rise to your cheeks? Ugh, whatever! That’s still dumb! 

“Sorry, they’re a little big shrimpy! The uniforms are all my custom size, so you probably can’t fill up all that room meant for my muscles!” Bokuto chuckled loudly, his hands on his hips, his legs spread further apart than shoulder width. 

“No offense, but how do you even deal with Bokuto?” I asked, watching him laugh and yell excitedly with Hinata. 

Akaashi laughed softly, turning his head to me. I snapped mine towards him nervously, “None taken.” He clarified, waving me off with his hand. 

He turned back to the two, where Bokuto was now teaching Hinata things. “Just like how you deal with Hinata, no?” Akaashi sighed contently, watching their movements. “He’s a total idiot, but that’s just him for you.” Akaashi cooed, despite his words being coated in spikes. 

I nodded, completely agreeing with his words. I truly looked up to this guy, even though he wasn’t anywhere near close to my field of work. He was just… admirable, in all aspects. I didn’t look up to many people, but seeing myself in another person who has everything going for them is a whole new experience. Communication is a bit of a struggle for me, which comes off as a sour attitude most of the time. Watching how he keeps his calm when he interacts with everyone is a refreshing change in this damn place. 

“When it comes down to it,” Akaashi began quietly, his gaze fixated on Bokuto, “I see Bokuto as having thirty-seven weaknesses.” Akaashi cooed, almost with tranquility. “But, his passion is quite admirable. Inspiring even.” Akaashi admitted. “And it looks like he’s a good influence on Hinata… simple as they are, it’s hopeful to see such happiness.” Akaashi smiled, making me smile in return. This one came easier. 

I got bored fast watching Bokuto walk Hinata through basic movements—was it seriously that damn hard?—And let my eyes wander. The lab was definitely nice, seriously looking like a real dojo. I looked back to Akaashi and noticed the sleeves of his top had been pushed up due to the position he was sitting in. 

His forearms had been revealed, showcasing faint welts, a gradient from the middle, a light red fading to pink, then blending in with his normal skin color. Just what were those things? Whatever they were, they didn’t look normal, they looked… _painful._

“Hey, Akaashi…” I began quietly, praying that this wasn’t going to come off intrusive or weird. 

Akaashi turned his head towards me, the same calm expression as always. “Yes, Kageyama?” He asked softly. 

“If—if you don’t mind me asking, what are those marks on your arms?” I stuttered, not even sure of my own words. 

Akaashi jumped slightly, his eyes widening at my question. “Oh—ah, it’s funny you bring that up...” he trailed, his eyes roving to the scars on his arm, exhaling a small breath, “They're kind of silly to look at, considering they're always covered up or edited out in my shoots…” He mumbled, his voice slowly fading into a whisper. 

I simply listened intently, not wanting to push anything, hopefully giving him the room to breathe. Not to mention, I had absolutely no clue what to say to him.

“They’re… cigarette burns.” Akaashi lamented, fidgeting and pulling on his fingers. 

My face contorted in shock and worry, about to ask him what, how, why—

“They’re—they’re from me!” Akaashi blurted, pulling his sleeve back down over the marks. 

My eyebrows furrowed in freight, not because I was scared of him, but the sudden outburst. His sudden expression of harsh emotion twisted something deep within me. 

“Yeah, yeah… smoking is terrible for a _model_ like me—I was just reckless. That’s all.” Akaashi stammered like he was making this up on the spot. 

It was awful, to assume he was lying, twisting the truth maybe, but I couldn’t help it… the way he spat model in disgust, the way he looked at the marks—how he hid them… 

_It wasn’t right._

_We sat in silence after that, neither of us bothering to say a word._

————————————————————————

Bokuto worked me through the ropes of Aikido, teaching me all the basics and positions. I was so eager to learn, this stuff was so cool! He said going right to a spar—which is what I wanted to do—was so super totally dangerous, his words, so I reluctantly let him just teach me basics. This was still really fun though, trying this out with him. 

Time went fast though, both of us getting tuckered out quickly. It was the most fun I’ve had in a while, though. Bokuto offered me a drink of water, which I thankfully accepted. 

“The water bottles are right next to ‘Kaashi,” Bokuto panted, pointing a finger lazily at Akaashi and Kageyama. 

The two of them were silent, and they both looked uncomfortable. Kageyama more than Akaashi, who simply had a blank expression on his face. Something told me it wasn’t his usual emptiness though. I noted how he tugged and pushed harshly on the fingers in his lap… was he… _nervous?_

I shook the thought out of my head and jogged over to the waters, Bokuto following close behind. 

“Hey, dumbass,” Kageyama said, as soon as I picked up a water bottle and began drinking. “We should probably get going soon, we’ve got other things to do.” He suggested gruffly. 

I shrugged and continued to chug down water. 

I mean, I didn’t know he wanted to go somewhere else but I didn’t mind. 

I looked over at Bokuto, who was drinking the water as if his life depended on it, the water dripping down his chin, gliding down his neck and splashing onto the bit of chest that his uniform revealed. 

“Bokuto… you can slow down. No ones going to take the water away from you.” Akaashi said, his eyebrows furrowed together and his eyes open wider than usual. 

Bokuto ignored his comment, chugging and getting the water everywhere until he slammed the bottle on the ground. 

“Finished!” Bokuto cheered, seemingly having all his energy back. 

Akaashi sighed, slowly rising from his knees. 

“Bokuto and I will clean up. Thank you two for visiting.” Akaashi murmured, bowing to me and Kageyama. We bowed back. 

“Augh, Akaashi I don’t wanna clean up!” Bokuto whined, and Akaashi just rolled his eyes subtly, grabbing Bokuto’s wrist and dragging him off, ignoring his whines and protests along the way. 

Well, I guess that’s that, but Akaashi was… acting weird. I shrugged it off, and turned to Kageyama, who’s gaze was fixated on the floor. He then suddenly turned and walked out without a word. 

I sighed and followed him.

“Bye again, guys!” I shouted before slipping out the door. I didn’t get a response. 

Kageyama was out in the hall, slipping his sneakers back on. 

“Hey, Kageyama?” I spoke up, causing him to hum and look up at me. “What… What happened in there? With you and Akaashi?” I asked nervously. I couldn’t tell if I was scared of the answer, or how he would respond. 

“Listen, Hinata,” Kageyama sighed, standing up. “Akaashi was freaking me out…” Kageyama trailed. I frowned, I thought they had been getting along? Kageyama could have started a fight, but I doubt it. Kageyama took a deep breath and started speaking again. “He had these weird marks on his arms, so I asked him what was up.” Kageyama paused again, looking to me like he was making sure I was following. I nodded, still slightly confused. “He got all weird, and like, nervous,” Kageyama said awkwardly. 

I cocked my head to the side. “Well, maybe he just didn’t wanna talk about it!” I suggested. Kageyama didn’t like that idea. 

“Quiet down, dumbass!” Kageyama whisper-yelled, flailing his arms around. I immediately snapped my jaw shut, wincing at the harshness of his tone. Kageyama huffed and took a step back. 

“They looked like they hurt, okay? I’m…” Kageyama paused yet again, sighing through his nose and casting his gaze to the side grumpily. “Worried. For him.” He grumbled, his words coming out stiff and forced. 

“How about we get your mind off it? Maybe he just didn’t want to share,” I said looking around the hall. 

“Oh, I know! How about we head to the library? Asahi and Noya are probably in there.” I suggested, pointing a thumb down the hall towards Asahi’s Lab. Kageyama looked at me, to the slider to the dojo, and then at me again. 

“Okay.” Kageyama sighed, nodding. 

I smiled and led the way, Kageyama close behind. We passed by the rest of the labs, Bokuto’s and Asahi’s being on opposite sides. 

The door to Asahi’s lab stood tall. The dark brown wood was polished to perfection. I thought back to the time I burst down this very door in sheer panic. _How long ago had that been?_ I couldn’t keep track anymore. That same unease I felt when bolting down these halls in search for Kageyama started to creep back in. It sucked. Why was I still feeling so anxious? 

“Hey, dumbass. You good?” 

I shook out of my thoughts and gulped down the nervous feeling I had been recalling. “Yeah,” I said, grabbing the shiny gold handle, and pushing it open. 

The library was nothing less than grand, but granted that was to be expected. Indubitably, it was the largest lab so far, and most likely the largest in the entire school. 

The many shelves of novels reached the high opera ceilings, starting from the very bottom of the floor. Lengthy ladders clung to each layer of the shelf, certainly needed for the height of all them. 

Shiny brown leather couches, loveseats, and armchairs scattered around the carpeted floor, the carpet red, yellow and totally royal, the pattern argyle. 

The far back corner of the library had a spiral staircase that led up to a balcony-like part, more books, and shelves present at the top. There was more seating up there as well, accompanied by coffee tables. 

Next to the spiraling staircase, a large globe sat, roughly the size of a large inner tube. It matched the overall theme of the library’s color palette, a soft yellow consuming the geography instead of your typical green and blue. 

Through and through, the entire library had a calming atmosphere, the lighting yellowed and dim. 

I was snapped out of my observations when Kageyama nudged my shoulder. I looked to him, and he nodded his head over to the right. 

Asahi was seated in one of the shiny brown chairs, Nishinoya sitting in his lap. Asahi had on a pair of half-moon reading glasses, one of his arms around Noya’s waist, and the other on the armrest. Both of his hands met in the middle to hold a thick novel, which his eyes were skimming. 

“Noya, Asahi, Hi!” I chirped, rushing over. Asahi snapped his head over to me, panicked. He put the novel down quickly, waving his hands and then shushing me. I skidded to a stop, tilting my head. Asahi pointed to Nishinoya who was fast asleep, snoring softly. 

“I wouldn’t want to wake him,” Asahi whispered, “He gets a little aggressive.” He shivered. 

“Wah! I’m sorry!” I squealed, receiving a smack to the back of my head. I yelped, shooting a glare at Kageyama. 

“Shut up dumbass, didn’t Asahi literally just tell you _not_ to wake Nishinoya?” He growled. 

“I’m so sorry!” I whisper-yelled, rubbing the back of my head. 

“It’s alright you two, I just want to make sure you live to see tomorrow.” Asahi whispered, jumping a bit when Nishinoya stirred in his sleep and snuggled closer to his chest. 

“Hey,” Kageyama started, tilting his head to the side, even though his expression still remained neutral. “Shouldn’t you take Nishinoya to his room? ‘Cause like, the whole sleep thing?” Kageyama asked, shrugging his shoulders on the “sleep thing” part. 

Asahi paused and then jumped in realization. 

“Oh god, oh god, oh god! I-I should take him to Iwaizumi right? Or should I just put him in his dorm—oh god!” Asahi panicked, fisting his hands into his hair. 

Kageyama’s eyes widened, pursing his lips, and leaning back. 

“Nishinoya’s such a light sleeper, there’s no way he wouldn’t have been up by now! I sneezed like ten times! How the heck did I not notice this! I’m such a bad person!” Asahi blubbered.

I scrambled to say something, sputtering to try and push any words—any words at all—to try and calm Asahi, but my attempts prove futile. 

“I-I’m gonna take him to Iwaizumi! Ah—thank you two for visiting, you can stay if you’d like!” Asahi blurted, hooking his arms underneath Nishinoya’s knees, the other arm cradling his back. Asahi hoisted him up quickly but carefully and scurried out of the room. 

Kageyama was silent. I punched him in the shoulder. 

“Ow! What the hell, dumbass!” Kageyama barked.

“Did you _need_ to do that?” I scolded, arms crossed. 

“You think I did it on purpose, idiot?” 

“How original! All you do is name call!”

“Ha! As if, stupid Hinata!

“There you go again!” 

“God, do you ever shut up?” 

“I hate you,” I huffed angrily, turning on my heel and making my way towards the door. 

“Oh yeah? Well, I hate you more than you hate me!” Kageyama countered, following me.

I huffed and sped up my pace, “Well, I’d hate you even if I didn’t hate you!” I growled, clutching the door and swinging it open. I winced when it whacked the opposite wall.

“I am _not_ talking to you anymore.” Kageyama hissed, rolling his eyes. 

I grunted it off, stepping out into the hallway. 

“Hinata, Kageyama! Please, come quick!” 

I snapped my head in the direction, the desperation, the fear, _the breathlessness,_ plunging into my core. _Deep._ What could have possibly happened now? Just exactly what—

_“There’s been a murder!”_

————————————————————————

“So you figured it out huh?” He asked, a bitter scowl framing his features. His sharp eyes narrowed at me. I swallowed. 

“Obviously. You aren’t very  _ discreet.”  _ I spat, frowning. I let my eyes copy, following his, shrinking into small slits. 

“Well, the real question here… what’s next?” He asked, an eyebrow raised. “You couldn’t possibly believe for a second you’re worth anything to me.” He hissed, suffocating venom seeping from his already burningly harsh words. 

“Don’t believe that I’m an advantageous ally?” I crossed my arms and huffed a mocking laugh, the purpose residing deep within my chest. “Don’t be dense.” I scoffed. 

He leaned back, a sinister smirk spreading ear to ear. 

He giggled.

Then started to laugh.

Then began to cackle. 

He threw his head back, his jaw slack, mouth wide open. The display was  _ disquieting. _

He came down from his high, a dopey smirk on his features. 

“Quite the contrary. Formidable is what you are,” he exasperated, circling around my form. It made me shiver, so I steeled my nerves, attempting to contain the jitters.

“Anywho, I’m tired of the blah-blah-blah.” He spat, reclaiming his position in front of me. “Now,” he said, holding a hand out towards me. 

_ “Work with me.”  _

The little  _ spirals _ in his eyes made me sick. 

“Betray your friends. Stab ’em in the back. You’ve already come this far, you  _ traitor. _ ” He tilted his head with his words, his eyes blown impossibly wide. 

“Whadduya say?” His fingers spread, his outstretched arm snaking towards me. The look in his eyes, the smirk on his face… it was dangerous. 

_... _

_ I shook on it. _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 𝚁𝙴𝙼𝙰𝙸𝙽𝙸𝙽𝙶 𝚂𝚃𝚄𝙳𝙴𝙽𝚃𝚂: 𝟷𝟿


	9. Ya snooze, ya lose

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey guys!! i just wanna thank u for all of the comments, bookmarks and kudos. it means the world to me! I'm sorry this chapter took forever to release, i got horrible writer's block and ended up rewriting it four times before i even got to one hundred words. but anyways! thank you all for sticking around, i love u so much!! <3

_ “There’s been a murder!” _

Yamaguchi stumbled over his own feet trying to make his way towards me and Kageyama. Tsukishima trudged behind him, hands stuffed in his pockets;  _ bored.  _

My head swirled, and back was that familiar tipsy feeling. The fear quickly settled and installed inside of my gut. 

“No, No, No!” I shouted in frustration, my fingers making refuge in my wild locks, gripping and tugging. The body must not have been found yet, considering that there was no announcement. Despite this, just the confirmation that a body is somewhere… 

_ Is more nerve-racking. _

Yamaguchi yanked at the straps of his starry apron, his eyes averted, chewing on his bottom lip harshly while nodding timid. 

“We need to go look. No time to talk about this!” I squealed, the overwrought side of myself breaking free, causing my legs to move faster than my brain could comprehend.

I took off towards the dormitories, my feet just barely tapping against the ground, like I was running on hot coals. I heard the pitter-patter of the others behind me, quiet huffs and puffs escaping them. I couldn’t slow down, I knew I was already late, yes, but my brain was shouting these unrefusable orders at my legs, adrenaline kicking right in and telling me to move. It was impossible, but it was like I was trying to save them.

As I was nearing the hall, I spotted Iwaizumi leaving a room. 

“Iwaizumi! How is everyone doing?” I shouted in urgency, skidding to a stop. Kageyama, Yamaguchi, and Tsukishima followed close behind. 

“Everyone is fine as of right now,” Iwaizumi sighed, letting his hand slip from the doorknob. “Why, Did something happen?” He perked up, more alert and attentive than before. 

“We’ve been notified that there was a murder! Right, Yamaguchi?” I panicked, searching his equally nervous expression for answers. 

The confectionist choked up at my question, frantically looking for words. “Uh—Ah—Yes!” Yamaguchi sputtered, grabbing his apron straps. “I was just in my lab with Tsu—Tsukki, then Monokuma popped up! And—And he told us to spread the word!” He squealed, avoiding eye contact with all of us. 

Iwaizumi cursed under his breath, running a hand through his spikey hair. 

“I just finished checking Tanaka’s vitals,” Iwaizumi stated, pointing to the door behind him. “I’ll go check the labs and gather everyone else. You four check all the dorms.” He instructed, taking off on a brisk jog before saying anything else. 

“Huh, he’s got great form,” Kageyama commented, tilting his head at Iwaizumi, a shocked but pleased expression on his face. 

“Uh, hello? Someone is dead!” I yelled, gesturing my arms around as if the statement wasn’t so completely in our faces. 

Tsukishima and Yamaguchi snickered at my remark, Yamaguchi attempting to hide his quiet giggles behind his hand. 

“Oh can it, Freckles and Four-Eyes!” Kageyama barked, whipping around and strolling up to a door. Tsukishima simply tsked and rolled his eyes, while Yamaguchi patted the pads of his fingers across his cheeks self consciously, shrinking into himself. 

I shook the conversation out of my head and hastily hurried over to a door, Tsukishima and Yamaguchi doing the same.

Each of us quickly went door to door, some rooms being empty and unoccupied, others housing one or two people. Yamaguchi ran to Suga’s, Tsukishima reluctantly went up to Ushijima's, and Kageyama went to Nishinoya’s.

The door I immediately went to was Kenma’s. I knocked quickly. Although I wasn’t expecting an answer and it was more of an etiquette thing, the door opened to reveal Kuroo. 

“Ah, Chibi-chan. What’s up?” He asked, a little too cool for the panicky situation the four of us found ourselves in. 

“Died! Someone—Kenma—okay?” I squealed, dodging my head around between words, trying to catch a glimpse of Kenma. Kuroo was just so huge, how was I supposed to see!

“Woah, Woah, Woah. Calm it down.” Kuroo ushered with his hands, his expression quickly dropping from entertained to serious. “Kenma’s alive,” He said, stepping aside and letting me look in. 

I peeked inside curiously, not surprised by the overwhelming amount of consoles and screens, or the wire-cord spaghetti that tangled its way across the floor. Kenma slept peacefully on the bed, snoring softly and moving his head around once and awhile. I exhaled in relief. 

Kuroo stepped out into the hall and shut the door behind him. 

“So another person—” Kuroo started but was cut off by a shout of terror. 

All of our heads shot over to Yamaguchi who was absolutely mortified, standing in the doorway of a dorm.

I cursed under my breath and ran over to where he was. Kuroo, Kageyama, and Tsukishima followed suit. 

I seized up in utter fear once I looked into the dorm.

My eyes shot from place to place around the room. Slightly messed up blankets on a bed, a pillow on the floor. A body near the pillow, laying limp. 

The next sight that graced my eyes, or well, cursed my eyes was blue. My breathing came to a frightening halt like my heart had been caught in the back of my throat. The hitch of my breath was loud, quite literally a jump scare. It ripped me out of my drunken daze-like state, and I realized just what the blue was. 

It wasn’t a blanket.

Nor a pillow.

Not even an article of clothing. 

It was a face. 

There was an all too familiar rush of footsteps coming from down the hall. I felt queasy as I looked down at the lifeless body, tucked into the bed. 

_ Yaku Morisuke, The Ultimate Florist, had been murdered.  _

_ -Ding Dong, Dong Ding- _

“A body has been discovered!” Monokuma sang, his cheerful voice coming from some speaker somewhere. ”Everyone, please gather in Yaku’s dorm room!” Monokuma exclaimed. “After a certain amount of time, which you may use however you’d like, a class trial will begin!” Monokuma concluded, the slurp of the broadcast being cut off making the room silent again. 

_ Yaku... _

His face was a gradient of blue and purple. Vibrant streaks of red streamed his face like he had cried. His mouth was slightly open. His eyes closed. 

And he wasn’t breathing. 

I tore my eyes away from Yaku’s lifeless body, looking back over to the one that was near the pillow on the floor. 

Long legs, pale skin… silver hair...

_ It was Lev.  _

But, he was breathing. Unlike the latter, he was simply passed out. 

“Shit! Who's in there?” A gruff voice barked. I snapped my head away from the gut-wrenching scene, spotting Iwa and everyone else rushing towards us. 

Iwaizumi aggressively pushed through everyone, storming into the dorm. 

“ _ Jesus Christ… _ ” He choked out once he laid eyes on the scene. He ran up to Yaku’s body and checked his pulse points even though he was  _ literally purple. _

“Well. You heard Monokuma. We have to investigate.” Tsukishima said quietly, slinking into the room. 

“But what about the others?” I asked firmly, catching the attention of everyone else, curious looks from each of them. “Those who are asleep, I mean,” I explained. 

“I’m so glad you asked!” A peppy voice exclaimed. 

My breath hitched and I turned to find Monokuma standing there, a stack of Monokuma files in his hands. On top of that stack, there were needles filled with a strange liquid. 

“Iwaizumi, these are just for you! I trust you’ll be able to use them correctly!” Monokuma explained, holding out the needles to Iwa. He gave the bear a dirty look, snatching the up shots. 

“And these are to wake people up? No bullshit?” Iwaizumi asked cautiously, studying the needles closely. 

“A bear never lies! Of course, they are. Now chop-chop medic man!” Monokuma sang, making Iwa scoff, and walk over to Lev. 

“As for the rest of you kiddos, here’s your Monokuma files! This will have information on Yaku’s death!” He explained cheerfully, passing out a tablet to each and every one of us. 

“Buh-bye now!” Monokuma cheered before vanishing. It’s seriously creepy how he does that. 

“We should look through this while we wait for Iwaizumi to wake the others to wake up,” Kuroo suggested, gesturing towards his tablet. We all agreed, turning our Monokuma files on. 

The screen lit up with the words “Monokuma File 02”, a small scroll bar on the right side. It was similar to the first Monokuma File we had received. I scrolled down and once again more images popped up. On the left, there was the word “dead” in fuchsia letters and all capitals. Below the word dead was his full name, in bold white text. To the right of that, was a headshot of Yaku, and next that was a full body picture of him. Underneath both of those was a chart depicting basic health information on Yaku. His height was listed as five-five, his weight was one hundred thirty-two pounds, his chest twenty-eight inches, and his blood type AB. 

I scrolled again and this slide detailed the cause of death. It showed a horizontal picture of Yaku’s lifeless body tucked into bed, a smaller version of the full-body picture of him underneath it in the right corner. The same fuchsia color from earlier highlighted his body in full. To the left, under eerie pink words—cause of death—was a small paragraph depicting how Yaku was murdered. 

“The victim’s body was discovered inside of Yaku Morisuke’s Dorm room, located on the first floor. The estimated time of death is 10:55 am. The cause of death was asphyxiation. No other injuries have been detected.” 

I powered off the device and looked up to see the others doing the same. Everyone out in the hallway funneled into the room. 

“It’s safe to assume that the pillow was the murder weapon, considering the fact that the cause of death was asphyxiation.” Iwaizumi stated, rising from a crouching position. He had six needles in his hands, along with one empty one. “I have no clue how long these’ll take to set in, but make sure Lev is well informed when he’s up. The others will come in shortly.” Iwaizumi instructed, leaving to go inject the six others. 

No one said anything. In fact, no one dared to even move. This entire scene, it was so… so… disturbing. 

Daichi broke the thick silence that coated us like a wet blanket. “I don’t even know where to begin… this is so brutal.” He mumbled, covering his mouth and dragging his fingers down his chin like he was stroking a non-existent beard. He looked stressed. 

“I think I’m going to be sick…” Asahi groaned, clutching his stomach with one hand, fisting his hair with the other. 

Yamaguchi was in a similar state, quite literally shaking—violently too. He looked just about ready to collapse, his eyes fluttery and unfocused. His eyes were fixated right on Yaku’s body, but that didn’t stop the pulsating in and out of consciousness he was displaying. 

“Yamaguchi, calm down will you?” Tsukishima asked—no—requested, grabbing Yamaguchi’s shoulder and giving him a good pat.

Yamaguchi nodded shyly, “Y-Yeah… sorry Tsukki.” He apologized, rubbing his forearm up and down. 

I looked around at everyone. It seemed no one wanted to take the initiative this time around. Tendo, Bokuto, Kuroo were reduced to nothing but silence. Even Oikawa looked phased. No one had anything to say. No one wanted to investigate. This scene… before us… before our eyes…  _ it was so surreal.  _

_ But, it seemed I was wrong.  _

Bokuto separated himself from the bunched up group we were huddled in. Slowly he walked over to the bed, crouching beside Yaku. 

“Poor little guy… he was completely defenseless.” He muttered, studying Yaku’s face with an unreadable expression. I couldn’t pinpoint it, but it was a mix of sorrow… disgust… most evident pity. 

He looked over to the rest of us. His eyebrows furrowed, his eyes narrowed, and a fire in his eyes. 

“How could one of you just—just kill him? It’s a total cat versus mouse…” Bokuto trailed off, looking back at Yaku. 

“It’s no good, right Akaashi?” Bokuto asked quietly, looking at Akaashi, his entire aura seeming to droop, his bold booming personality vanished, the weight of sadness crushing him. 

“Yeah,” Akaashi muttered, stepping towards Bokuto. He bent down to Bokuto’s level, gently putting a hand on his cheek, making Bokuto flush.

“Let’s investigate for him, okay?” Akaashi asked softly. Bokuto nodded sadly. 

It hurt to see everyone so crushed. Not that I didn’t feel the same way, I just wish I could’ve done something—said something, to brighten the mood a little. 

“I suggest the rest of you do the same, this doesn’t look like it’s going to be easy,” Akaashi said.

I knew he was right. There were no clues, not even potential ones. Sure, we had the murder weapon, but what else was there? Yaku’s room was overall very tidy, but besides the pillow and the confirmation of asphyxiation, nothing else stood out. Nothing at all. What exactly are we going to  _ investigate? _

“I suppose it's a good idea to acknowledge who isn’t here, to make sure they’re well informed when they wake up,” Kuroo said, looking around at who was in the room. “Kenma’s in his dorm, who else?”

“Noya as well.”

“Tanaka too.” 

“Wakatoshi!” 

“We all know Yaku and Lev,” 

“And then Suga. So we just barely made the cutoff huh?” Daichi sighed, sifting his hand through a small bedside table. There was a little yellow pot with a white flower in it. It was real. 

“Heyyyy, isn’t that kinda, y’know, invasive? I mean the guy just died.” Tendo said plainly, tilting his head at Daichi’s ministrations. 

“Tendo, please refrain from referring to the deceased in such a manner.” A familiar gruff voice suggested. 

“Ushiwaka! I almost thought you’d never wake up, buddy!” Tendo exclaimed, happily holding out his arms for Ushijima. 

Ushijima nodded, “Yes we are… ‘buddies’ Tendo.” Ushijima agreed, straight-faced. 

Soft groaning was heard from the side of the room, Grunts and sighs were accompanied by popping and cracking sounds. I looked over at a walking up Lev, stretching his long limbs, absolutely oblivious to what was going on, and just where he was.

“Where… am I?” Lev groaned, rubbing his head. He blinked a few times, furrowing his eyebrows when he understood that all of us were staring at him. “What? Why are we all in… Yaku’s room?” Lev asked, taking in the familiar scenery. No one bothered to see a word, and if we could, somehow, find the things to say, it would probably be no use. 

The silence grew even thicker when Lev finally soaked in the sight of Yaku’s body. It’s not like people stopped talking, because we were already quiet as mice, but the atmosphere hung heavy, and the tension felt thick. Like the pressure of something before it’s about to burst. 

Lev seemed to go through all five stages of grief at once, as he swallowed and panted, blinked rapidly… glanced around at all of us as if he was waiting for us all to say just kidding. That was not the case. We all stood quiet. I couldn’t bring myself to look at Lev. I shrunk further into myself as from the corner of my eye, I could still see the blur of Lev’s form shaking violently and heaving. 

I flinched at the sound that left him. We can never truly feel another's pain, but that scream of his came close. It was the kind of scream that puts every other thought on hold and roots everyone close in the very same agony. 

Lev tried to hurry to his feet, slipping and falling back down to his knees in the process. He winced loudly in pain but kept going, stumbling over his own feet as he rushed over to Yaku on unsteady legs, wobbly and unsure like a newborn horse.

Lev fell to his knees at the edge of Yaku’s bed, slumping over his dead body and clutching the limp form in a surely suffocating grip. Ironic. 

_ “Yaku! I’m sorry! I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry! Please come back to me!” _ Lev wailed, his voice high and strained cracking occasionally at the ends of his words. 

Daichi quietly began to intervene. He walked forward slowly, wary of every little flinch, tighter squeeze and every shuffle away from him. 

“Lev… let go,” Daichi said quietly, gently placing a firm hand on his shoulder, the reassurance that usually resided inside of his demeanor and touch, absolutely inapplicable when used against the hiker. 

Lev whipped his head towards Daichi, still cradling Yaku.

_ “Don’t touch me!”  _ Lev exploded, his voice borderline whiny, breaking. His face was scrunched up, almost in disgust. Tears streamed down quickly, red streaks painting his pained features, the entire look tied together with his teeth bared and jaw clenched. It was a defensive, disgusted, and  _ despaired _ look. His jagged breathing seemed to mess up mine as well, as my chest constricted.

“Lev! Get a hold of yourself.” Daichi reasoned, squeezing his shoulder tighter but still visibly respecting boundaries. 

I couldn’t even begin to think about what’s going through Lev’s mind right now. I couldn’t. What if that were me? I don’t even think I know how I would react. 

“Get your hands off of me!” Lev cried, ripping away from Daichi’s grip, almost in fear, still gripping Yaku.

“Listen, man,” Bokuto started, stepping forward to Daichi’s side, “We don’t have time to waste so please let go—” 

_ “Don’t touch him!”  _ Lev shrieked cowering back as far as he could go until he hit the headboard. 

Bokuto and Daichi shared an uneasy look, but it was knowing all the same. They each grabbed one of Lev’s arms, prying him off of Yaku’s body. 

_ “Don’t take him away from me! Stop!”  _ Lev flailed. 

Daichi and Bokuto looked knowing of the great pain Lev was in, and it was visible how hard they were trying to tune out his wails and objections. 

Lev thrashed against the restraint, no’s and let go’s falling from his lips like atomic bombs. 

“I’ll handle it from here Bokuto,” Daichi muttered once they finally made it to the exit, and Bokuto nodded, shoving the two out of the door and slamming it shut. You could hear Lev’s cries and protests as the two made it down the hall away from the dormitories. Bokuto sighed and turned around, facing all of us. 

Met with the still ongoing silence, Bokuto laughed awkwardly and scurried over to where Akaashi was standing.

“Yo… what happened to him?” 

I turned my attention to the door and saw Noya and Tanaka standing with confused looks on their faces. 

“Yeah. How come Lev was havin’ a meltdown?” Tanaka asked, scratching his head curiously. 

They spotted Yaku’s body soon enough and immediately recoiled, pity and remorse covering their features.

“Oh shit,” Tanaka said, taking in the sight of the Body.

“Sorry.” The two apologized.

“Arrogant as ever.” Tsukishima chided.

“Here you two, take one.” Daichi offered, holding out to each of them a Monokuma file. 

Tanaka and Nishinoya accepted them, bitter expressions on their faces. 

“We seriously have to do this again, huh?” Noya said bitterly, clutching his Monokuma file. 

It was rhetorical, or well, we treated it like it was, because once again no one responded. It was just quiet. Minimal movement, discussion, expression… just awful. 

“H-Hey! I’m glad to see you’re all doing okay!” Another voice called from the doorway. 

Nishinoya gasped and immediately got pumped again. 

“Soogs!” He cheered, throwing his hands in the air. 

“All…?” Tendo muttered under his breath.

Suga stood in the doorway, slightly leaning against it for support. He still had the bandages on his head. 

“Suga! Holy—how are you feeling?” Daichi burst, rushing over to Suga. Suga laughed softly at his actions, shaking his hands in front of him. 

“I’m alright, I swear. A little light-headed, but nothing that I can’t handle.” Suga responded, wobbling a little when he tried to move forward. 

Daichi immediately jumped into action when he saw this, grabbing Suga’s side protectively, placing Suga’s right arm on his shoulder. 

“You really don’t need to do that Daichi, I spoke with Iwaizumi and everything—”

Daichi gave Suga a “really” look, hoisting him closer. “Oh no, I’m not letting go. Just let me help you.” Daichi reasoned, causing Suga to roll his eyes playfully. 

“Kenma I can see you,” Kuroo said, not even looking at the doorway. “Just because you’re hiding behind Suga doesn’t mean you don’t have to investigate.” 

A quiet huff was heard, Kenma stepping out from behind Suga. His eyes were droopy and he didn’t look very happy to be here. 

“Woah! I didn’t even see you there Kenma! How are you feeling?” I chirped, happy to see him doing okay.

“Uh—fine I guess?” 

“Better now that you’ve actually gotten sleep?” Kuroo asked, ushering Kenma into Yaku’s room. When the heck did he even get behind Kenma? 

Kenma wore a sour expression, hunching into himself and avoiding Kuroo’s touch as much as possible. “Will you stop with that?” Kenma muttered, staring Kuroo down. 

“That makes everyone, correct? That is, excluding Lev, Daichi, and Iwa.” Oikawa said smoothly, but almost took a spit take when he realized what he said. “Speaking of Iwa, where is he?” Oikawa asked, his eyes narrowing at Suga. 

“I believe he’s disposing of the syringes,” Suga responded kindly, opposed to Oikawa’s accusatory demeanor. 

“Very well.” Oikawa breathed out. He glanced at his silver watch, “I’m assuming we have three minutes left going off of last time’s limit, so get investigating if you haven’t already.” Oikawa said. Yes, a simple said, but he, as always, seemed to make everything condescending in a way.

Daichi was quick to gather the ones that were rendered unconscious to inform them of everything we had managed to figure out. It wasn’t much, but hell, it was a lot less than last time. 

I was sort of relieved that people were talking again, although not consistently. It was only if needed, but it was certainly better than the suffocating dead silence from earlier. I couldn’t help but wonder what Lev’s going through right now. Yaku was gone, he was helpless, and to top off the crummy cake, the body was brutal. Something right out of a horror movie.  _ I felt terrible. _

_ -Ding Dong, Bing Bong- _

“Heyyy… I’m gettin’ kinda bored here. So let’s get the show on the road, shall we? It’s the event you’ve all been waiting for— _ the class trial! _ ” Monokuma cheered, in his usual spot on the monitor. “Right, let's all assemble in the usual place. Enter the red door on the first floor of the school zone. Hehehe, see you all sooooon!” He giggled, the broadcast cutting off and leaving the screen black. 

“You heard him…” Tsukishima mumbled, exiting the room. 

I gulped.  _ Here we go again.  _

On the other side… of that red door… 

Was yet another class trial. Yet another grueling part of this school where we would have to accuse our friends. I couldn’t turn away from this—I wouldn’t, but… there was a tiny part of me that absolutely wanted to. Lev’s meltdown, Yaku’s body… the unnerving small amount of evidence. The odds are against us. 

But even as those red doors slid open, even as I watched Daichi usher a once lively now mute Lev down the halls... I didn’t turn away. 

We all boarded the elevator, Iwaizumi showing up right behind the rest of us. 

I let out a long heavy sigh as the doors slid closed behind us, thudding together so loud I swear my organs moved. 

The elevator began its noisy and slow descent, housing the vortex of emotion and speculation that swirled around us. 

The elevator buzzed as it sank lower and lower into the earth, farther and farther from the surface, until finally…

_ Ding! _

It came to an abrupt stop. 

The doors ahead peeled open, revealing the trial room. 

_ Here we go again... _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 𝚁𝙴𝙼𝙰𝙸𝙽𝙸𝙽𝙶 𝚂𝚃𝚄𝙳𝙴𝙽𝚃𝚂: 𝟷𝟿


	10. On edge - Off the ledge

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> kachow back with another chapter!! im so sorry this took a literal month AHAH  
> i actually had some problems during the production of this chapter, it was supposed to be released much earlier but I ended up contemplating giving up this story because another person here on AO3 was plagiarising this work, stealing many ideas and even literal paragraphs from this very story. They received more recognition and support for a work that shouldn't ever have been considered their's. I felt like shit and robbed of the hard work I've put into this. But I'm back, and I know the worth of my writing and I'm not just gonna quit on you guys. I'm going to try my best to keep content steady and not take a month between each. I love you all so much and thank you for the support <3

My heart plummeted when I saw it. 

Joining the Terushima stand was a Kyotani and Yaku one. Kyotani had two boxing gloves in vibrant pink smears crossing over his serious portrait. Yaku was smiling in his picture, two flowers resembling an ‘x’ stamping his face. Each stand replicated every single dead member’s height. 

Why did the stands make me so repulsed? Something almost felt wrong meeting their eyes. 

“Hey, hey kiddos! I’m so glad to see we’re all here!” Monokuma cheered from his seat on the throne, both arms outstretched to a ‘y’ shape. “And I really mean all…” Monokuma added, gesturing towards the stands at their respective podiums. He finished his addition with a screeching cackle. 

We, of course, didn’t entertain his awful humor and opted for silence avoiding the stands and Monokuma. 

“Tough crowd, eh? I don’t care! Get to your podiums, you little twerps!” Monokuma seethed, raising his glinting claws at us. 

“We’re moving you little build-a-bear…” Tsukishima scoffed under his breath, taking his spot behind his podium. 

Yamaguchi laughed behind a clenched fist, trying his best to stifle his giggles. 

“Watch if you two! I have half a mind to punish ya!” Monokuma growled, pointing a finger at the two. 

Tsukishima rolled his eyes and dusted off his blazer, “It isn’t against the rules, so I could really say whatever I please.” He smiled condescendingly, one eyebrow raised. 

“Why I outta _—grrrr—just start the damn trial!”_ Monokuma seethed, his little paws clenched into shaking fists at his sides. 

We took our places at our respective podiums, each and every one of us mentally preparing for the class screaming match that we call a class trial. Each of us remained silent as we gathered our evidence, alibis, our suspects, and arguments. 

“Let us begin with a basic explanation of the class trial! So, your votes will determine the results. If you can figure out “whodunnit” then only they will receive punishment. But if you pick the wrong one…” Monokuma explained, trailing off and getting that threatening glow in his red eye, “I’ll punish everyone besides the blackened, and the one that deceived everyone else will graduate!” Monokuma exclaimed, throwing both paws up in the air.

“How about we start off with the murder weapon?” Monokuma suggested, his head cocked to the side. 

“The cause of death was asphyxiation,” Kuroo stated. 

“This is a given, we know this is true because it is confirmed Monokuma file.” Iwaizumi supported, crossing his arms over his chest. 

“So could the murder weapon be anything?” Suga asked, rubbing his head.

“Guess so… oh! I bet it was the killer's hands!” Nishinoya theorized proudly. 

That just couldn’t be right… there must have been some sort of physical weapon inside of the room, dangerous and obvious or not...

“No, that’s wrong!” I shouted. Everyone’s eyes shot over to my podium. 

“Can we all agree that the object that suffocated Yaku was the pillow found at the scene of the crime?” I asked rhetorically. “It was close to the body, and it seems to be the only object in the Yaku’s dorm that could have caused that type of death.” I reasoned. 

“Right, a pillow could easily suffocate someone, especially if they are unconscious.” Kageyama pointed out. 

“As far as I’m concerned, that makes a lot of sense,” Semi commented. 

“Yeah, from what I surveyed, that seems undeniably correct.” Iwaizumi concurred. 

“You had to… examine him?” Tanaka asked, his face practically blue due to the queasiness displayed on his features. 

Iwaizumi only crossed his arms and nodded in response. 

“Gross...” Kenma mumbled. 

“If you all don’t mind, we should move the discussion forward. The motive if you will. It was a strange one.” Tsukishima noted. 

“Yeah, I thought that too. Every hour that goes by, someone new will pass out.” Akaashi reiterated.

“And if more than half of us fall asleep, we all die!” Bokuto wailed, flailing his arms around like he couldn’t believe his own statement. 

“Right, and not to mention, we just barely missed the cutoff. It was a close one.” Daichi added. 

“So wouldn’t that give everyone who passed out an automatic alibi?” Yamaguchi proposed, “Suga, Ushijima, Nishinoya, Lev, Tanaka, and Kenma, right?”

“Perhaps, but we’ll have to revisit that later,” Oikawa stated, grabbing the podium and leaning forward. “I wouldn’t call safe just yet.” He added.

He was met with nods and hums of agreement. 

“Well then, why don’t we move on?” Tendo suggested, “You two,” he said, pointing a finger at Yamaguchi and Tsukishima, “Are suspicious as all hell!” He accused, his wide eyes zoning in on them. 

“What the hell are you talking about?” Tsukishima hissed his eyes narrowing at Tendo. 

“Yeah! You can’t just go accusing people like that.” Asahi scolded, folding his arms over his chest with an agitated look on his face. 

“And why not? Is that not why we are here?” Ushijima asked, the same stone-cold expression coating his features. 

“What did we even do?” Yamaguchi fretted. 

“Don’t play coy! You were the first to know where the body was! Explain to me how that couldn’t be suspicious!” Tendo argued, his arms flailing and his eyes blowing even wider. 

“T-That’s because Monokuma came to my lab while I was in there with Tsukki! He told us to find the body so we went to go search and gather everyone and then ran into Hinata and Kageyama!” Yamaguchi wailed. 

“Slow down Yamaguchi, we’ll all listen,” Daichi reassured, glaring at Tendo before giving Yamaguchi another smile. 

“I—it‘s just—” Yamaguchi sputtered.

“Be quiet Tadashi.” Tsukishima sneered, pushing up his glasses and staring down Tendo. “Leave him out of this. This is clearly between me and you.” Tsukishima snarled. 

“We need a greater reason than ‘that’s suspicious’.” Suga said, “Care to add, Tendo?” 

“I’d love to! Buuut, it’ll be a question this time.” Tendo sang, long fingers stretched out on his chest a smug look gracing his features. 

“Exactly what time did Monokuma ‘tell you‘ to find the body?” Tendo asked, finger quoting the tell you part.

“Eleven a.m.” Tsukishima shot back, “Sharp.” He added with a hiss.

“Well then…” Tendo smirked, “There ya go, folks! We’ve got our answer. It’s one of them.” He cheered. 

My brows immediately furrowed. That’s not right, is it? Something about that claim is just completely weird… and not just because it was coming from Tendo… 

_I’ve got it!_

“No, that’s wrong!” I yelled, pointing my finger at the redhead. 

Tendo mockingly put up both of his hands, feigning shock and guilt on his features. He dropped the act like a hot plate, “How so?” He quipped, the same dangerously smug smirk spreading across his lips, his head cocking to the side. 

“Take a look at the Monokuma file. It would be impossible for Yamaguchi or Tsukishima to be the culprit in this case.” I explained, “The estimated time of death is ten fifty-five a.m, that is exactly what the Monokuma file says.” 

“So clearly, Tsukishima or Yamaguchi wouldn’t have been able to murder Yaku. They wouldn’t have left Yamaguchi’s lab until after ten fifty-five.” Kageyama reiterated.

“Yes, See! Tell them Monokuma!” Yamaguchi cried, reaching over his podium, gripping the edge with both hands. 

“Fineee. I did tell those little twerps to go find him. But that’s all I’m sayin’!” Monokuma barked, shaking his little fists around. 

Yamaguchi let out a sigh of relief. Tendo’s nose and eyebrows twitched in annoyance, his arms crossed tightly over his chest. 

“Guess I screwed up. But don’t be thinkin’ you’re off the hook baker boy! I’ve got my eye on you…” Tendo hissed, eyes honing in on Yamaguchi. 

“Listen, we’ve been going nowhere with this discussion! We need to set a few things straight.” Daichi asserted, a stern look on his face. 

“Yes, agreed. I’m thinking if we can figure out the timing of each pass out the list of culprits could be narrowed down quite a lot.” Suga added, approving hums and nods coming from each podium in the circle. 

“When we were introduced to this motive, we were informed that every hour someone new would pass out.” Tsukishima pointed out.

“And! If more than half of us passed out we woulda all been dead!” Bokuto wailed, grey eyebrows raised and gold eyes blown wide. Akaashi flinched and scowled from beside him. 

Kuroo hummed, “We know Suga was the first to pass out, and since these were done in hourly intervals, Suga would have started us off at five a.m.” He explained. 

“Yes, which would make Yaku the six a.m pass out.” Akaashi continued, tucking a curl behind his ear. 

“Yeah. Then the order would be Ushiwaka, Kenma, Nishinoya, Tanaka and then I’d assume Lev.” Iwaizumi attested calmly, adjusting his name tag. 

“Assume?” Kenma parroted, his sharp cat-like eyes narrowed at Iwaizumi, the golden hue glinting in the lighting of the courtroom. 

“Well, yeah, it would make sense but I couldn’t be one hundred percent sure.” Iwaizumi claimed. 

“Dude, how are we just supposed to believe that? How do you not know this for sure?” Noya barked, his eyebrows furrowed. 

“Don’t be getting pissy at me, this shit was a lot to juggle on my own!” Iwa shot back, his aggressive demeanor immediately raising suspicions. 

“You were the only one who had full access to each of them,” Semi said, his expression unentertained, “The rest of us just went about our day.” He pointed out. 

“That’s not true! What about Kuroo, hm? He was in and out of Kenma’s room frequently! Who knows what he could’ve done!” Oikawa blurted. 

“Only in Kenma’s room. I left to grab a snack and visit Bo once. Don’t go over-exaggerating the situation.” Kuroo countered, his confident and flat tone coming across more convincing than that of Oikawa’s. 

“That’s true! Kuroo came to my lab, and it wasn’t jus’ me who saw him!” Bokuto added. 

“Yes, I, along with Hinata and Kageyama can attest to that statement,” Akaashi reported. 

“You are all just as ‘suspicious’ as him!” Oikawa accused, pointing his finger at us. “Anyone of you could have just walked into those dorms, don’t act like it’s just him!” He hissed. 

“That’s true, but he would be most likely, and would raise absolutely no suspicion at all.” Asahi explained. 

“Also, anyone of us is quite vague, as there’s a whole lot of us that simply couldn’t have done anything.” Suga rejoined. 

“That’s right! If Yaku was killed ten fifty-five a.m, those who passed out simply couldn’t have done it.” I said. 

“That would also eliminate Yamaguchi and Tsukishima, on top of me and Hinata,” Kageyama added. 

I looked back at Oikawa. Something was off. Something was _bugging_ him. 

“Don’t be stupid, the time of death is just an estimate. No one is safe, no one is eliminated from suspicion, that’s just not how this works!” Oikawa heaved, the normally cool and collected analyst disheveled and panicky. _What has gotten into him?_

“Would you back off, Shitty-kawa? Let me handle this.” Iwaizumi growled, before doing his best to compose himself, huffing as he leaned over his podium. 

“Handle this? Like you handled Yaku?” Tendo quipped, checking out his nails. 

“Listen here you little bastard, the last thing I would do would be to abuse my power.” Iwaizumi countered, more collected and assertive than angry this time around. 

“Plus, I was checking Tanaka’s vitals when Tsukishima and Yamaguchi were told to find Yaku,” He added, “Then, I ran into Hinata and Kageyama right as I finished. Explain exactly how I could’ve done all of that in such a short span of time?”

“How could we know you didn’t just murder Yaku while Lev was asleep? It would be quite easy.” Ushijima questioned. “And was it not Oikawa who said the time of death was ‘just an estimate’?” Ushijima proposed. 

Iwaizumi huffed through his nose, “You can’t be serious…” Iwaizumi exasperated, rolling his eyes and turning to look around the courtroom. 

“You can’t be fucking serious!” He seethed through a clenched jaw, jutting his body forward and gripping the edge of his podium. 

“I don’t know—”

“Stop…” 

“What else you want me to say—” 

“Stop…” 

“But god damn it, I am sick—”

“Stop.”

“Of you not listening!” 

“ _Stop it!_ Stop it, stop it, stop it!”

All eyes shot over to the desperate cry. 

_It was Lev._ Shaking, crying, choking on his own words. 

“Stop, for the love of God, stop fighting!” He shouted.

“Lev—” Daichi began, reaching a hand up from his podium. 

_“It was me! I did it, I did it, I did it!”_ Lev wailed, gripping his podium like it was his life source. 

“Lev please calm down,” Suga hands patting the air, “You did what?” He asked. 

“I-I killed Yaku—I took the pillow and snapped—I couldn’t help myself—”

“You need to explain it clearly, man! I have no clue what you’re saying!” Bokuto whined. 

Lev took in a breath, exhaling shakily. 

“I’ll—I’ll explain…” 

“I took Yaku back to his dorm and sat in there with him for a few hours. I was petrified that someone would try to hurt him…” Lev began.

“I just sat there, alone with him and my thoughts. I started to get more and more anxious. Yaku is so small, and he’s so weak…” Lev’s bottom lip trembled, as he looked up at the rest of us.

“I knew he wouldn’t be able to make it out of here alive,” Lev muttered in a hushed tone. 

“So you just decided for him? What gives you the right to choose?” Bokuto asked, raising his voice and looking genuinely angry.

“Bokuto—” Akaashi whisper-yelled, gently grabbing his wrist to try and calm him. 

“No, Akaashi!” Bokuto fussed, “I’m pissed!” He yelled, glaring at Lev again. 

“What the hell were you thinkin’?” Bokuto questioned, still yelling. 

“He looked so helpless, you don’t understand…” Lev gulped, on the verge of tears again. 

“I didn’t think about it, I just let myself grab the pillow and I kept telling myself this is for the best… he’d go out quickly and painlessly and wouldn’t have to suffer through this despair anymore…” 

“And then I smothered him.” Lev shrugged a disgusted expression on his face, tears starting to fall again. 

“He didn’t even react, he squirmed a bit but then it was over… and then everything went black,” Lev added. 

“Then I woke up, and things were a bit fuzzy, I didn’t understand what was going on, and then I remembered everything. I regret it all so much… I just couldn’t stand to watch him die…” Lev whispered, hands fisting his silver hair. 

Everything was silent. 

We were all so completely stunned by the confession that I don’t think anyone was even close to coming up with words, let alone a rebuttal. 

“That makes total sense now.” Iwaizumi spoke to himself, “Seriously, it all connects, he’s not lying.” He said looking up to the rest of us. 

We stayed silent, still shocked at Lev’s sudden outburst. 

“Listen, after consideration, Lev is the _only_ one here who could’ve killed Yaku.” Iwaizumi claimed confidently, so much so that no one even attempted to rebut. 

“How so?” Tsukishima asked, breaking the painful silence. 

“Did anyone of you see Lev leave Yaku’s dorm? Once?” He asked the courtroom, he was met with head shakes, and then expressions of realization. 

“Yeah, me neither. As soon as he closed the door, he didn’t come out.” He said.

“But that’s not just it,” He started, “The timing of the death and when I assumed Lev passed out, line up perfectly.” Iwaizumi claimed. 

“It takes about five minutes for the brain to start dying due to lack of oxygen. Without proper medical attention, the body will fail at rapid speeds. And, as we know, the estimated time of death was at ten fifty-five a.m. Five minutes before Lev passed out.” He Informed. 

“So, undeniably, Lev would have to be the only person capable of pulling this murder off.” Iwaizumi stated. 

Lev remained silent, staring at his feet. 

“That seems to settle it,” Daichi remarked quietly. 

“I… I say we review this case one more time before we cast our votes.” I said solemnly, as I looked at a defeated Lev. I wish I could tell what was happening in his brain. He was silent again. 

I took a deep breath and reminded myself that this is for the best. 

“Now, here’s what happened in this case.” I asserted, ordering the events quickly in my head, getting ready to review the crime.

“Let's start from the very beginning. At five-forty this very morning, I woke up sensing something was wrong.” I began. 

“In the hallway. I found Suga passed out on the floor. He had gotten an injury to his head which caused me to panic and alert the others. Once Suga had been taken care of, Monokuma made us meet up in the Gymnasium. There, he told us that our newest motive would cause a new person to fall asleep every hour.” I explained.

“After Yaku passed out, Lev brought him to his dorm. There he sat for the next five hours. He didn’t leave once. No one else entered the dorm except for him.” I spoke. 

“As Iwaizumi told us, it would take five minutes for Yaku to die because of the lack of oxygen. So, Lev suffocated him at about ten fifty-five a.m, and then he was next to pass out, right at eleven a.m,” I paused, scratching the back of my neck, “Which would be approximately the time Monokuma interfered and told Tsukishima and Yamaguchi to gather everyone to find the body.” I declared. 

“While leaving the Library, Kageyama and I ran into Yamaguchi and Tsukishima, who told us what happened. Then, we ran into Iwaizumi who told us to search while he found the rest of us.” I explained, running a hand through my messy hair. 

I couldn’t help the lump that formed in my throat as I formed my next words. 

“We searched quickly… we dashed door to door looking for the awaiting body, until Yamaguchi opened the dreadfully correct one,” I mumbled, squeezing the edge of my podium. 

“And so, we all ran to the dorm, where we found Yaku and Lev’s bodies, one alive, one dead.” I grimaced, staring down at my quivering hands. 

“Does that sound right, Lev?” I asked, my voice coming out in a strained utter. 

Lev sniffled and nodded, too broken, _too defeated_ to say anything more. 

_I couldn’t tell if he had betrayed Yaku, or himself._

“I’d say we’ve reached our verdict,” Oikawa said quietly. 

“Alrighty, then here we go!” Monokuma cheered. “Who will be chosen as the blackened? Will you make the right choice, or the dreadfully wrong one?” Monokuma asked, his voice coated in theatrics.

All of us looked down at our levers and carefully cast our votes. 

The slot machine rose out of the floor and perched itself in front of us. It started to spin. Each of our little icons rushed by. 

The machine began to slow, three pictures lining up with each other. Each depicting Lev’s icon. The machine began to siren, lights flashing and coins rushing out of it, like we had just won. The word “guilty” flashed along with colorful lights below Lev’s icons.

“Woo-hee! That’s the good stuff!” Monokuma cheered. 

“The blackened in this case, the one who murdered Yaku Morisuke...” Monokuma began, “...was none other than Lev Haiba!” He cackled. 

We were all silent as Lev shook his head to himself and sobbed. 

“Now then, since you so brilliantly exposed the identity of the killer during this class trial…” Monokuma started, “The blackened, Lev Haiba will now receive his punishment!” Monokuma announced, twisted enjoyment in his high pitched shriek.

We felt no victory in revealing Lev as the killer. No sense of satisfaction or relief that the trial was over. I think if I could choose between immediately reaching a verdict and the trial going on forever, I would choose the latter.

“I’ve prepared a very special punishment for the Ultimate Hiker, Lev Haiba!” Monokuma cackled.

“I’m so sorry Yaku…” Lev whispered, the crack in his voice enough to make the lot of us flinch, the audibly apparent tears drowning him. 

“Let’s give it everything we’ve got! It’s…PUNISHMENT TIIIME!” Monokuma squealed. 

A large red button on a pedestal rose up to Monokuma. Monokuma pulled out a small, shiny gavel, giving it a twirl before smashing it down onto the button. 

A set of double doors burst open, a chain and neck collar flying towards Lev. It was the same device that had captured Kyotani.

_“I’m sorry.”_

Lev choked out one final time, the look on his face showed nothing but defeat, his eyes swollen, red, droopy from all of his tears. He had been drained of all fight and charisma he once displayed. 

It took only split seconds for the metal collar and chain to reach Lev, the metal collar securing itself around his throat and yanking towards the open doors. 

We all bolted after him, through the double doors and to the inevitable execution that lay ahead. 

The room we rushed into this time was no longer an arena, it was an outdoorsy place, a large mountain occupying most of the room. 

We were held back by chain-link fences, surrounded by screens and speakers that displayed a close-up of Lev. We watched helplessly as he was positioned at the bottom of the mountain, the chain releasing him and retracting away.

The words, “A Treacherous Climb” flashed across each screen. Then, the screens were back to Lev. 

There he stood, situated at the bottom of the mountain. Even his lanky form was nothing to the monstrous land that towered high above the rest of us. 

Lev heaved in his spot, clearly in no shape to climb such a high landform. He remained unmoving until distant cries rang out, causing Lev to snap his head. 

_It was Yaku!_

He stood atop the mountain‘s summit, calling out for Lev’s help. He cried Lev’s name over and over. 

_“Yaku!”_ Lev shouted back, starting to race his way up the mountain. 

We all stared in awe at the screens, Yaku was dead, wasn’t he? Where did he come from? How did he suddenly—

A loud slam ripped me out of my thoughts. 

A large door behind where Lev had started opened, suddenly, a large group of Monokumas began to chase after him. They looked _hungry._

_Red eyes gleaming a violent crimson, sharp teeth chomping away at the air._

I felt excruciatingly sick, as I was forced to sit back and watch the Monokumas chase Lev, who was clumsily, _desperately,_ climbing as fast as he could to reach Yaku. 

The climb was riddled with various traps, the remaining of us viewing anxiously as Lev just barely missed them. 

Bear traps, mines, spikes, close corners that were so narrow he almost fell—each Lev just grazed. 

He began to break a sweat, panting, and panicking as he struggled to stay out of the Monokuma’s reach and safe from the increasing number of obstacles. 

He was nearing the top when a particularly sharp corner with a narrow path came up. 

Lev drew in a deep breath as he started to sprint harder, cutting the corner extra close. The Monokumas couldn’t all squeeze into the narrowing path, which led to more than half of the group being knocked off of the mountain. 

Lev ran and ran and was met with yet another sharp turn, knocking off a few more. One Monokuma remained. 

The next path only presented Lev with a towering wall, jagged rocks making up the final stretch to Yaku. 

Lev gasped for air desperation clear on his features. He hastily began to climb the rocks, struggle clear as he had no equipment. 

“Yaku!” Lev screamed, one foot slipping and dangling as he was met with a weak piece of stone. “Please hang in there!” 

Lev shouted out loudly, a blood-curdling shriek as the final Monokuma had latched onto his ankle, biting down on the flesh with sharp teeth, causing vibrant pink blood to gush all over its face. 

Lev clutched the rockage, his arms shaking violently as his knuckles whitened. He continued to bellow violently as he thrashed around, flinging his leg in an attempt to shake the Monokuma off. 

The Monokuma swung around until it eventually slipped off, plunging to the rocky land below, the force of which it hit the ground causing it to explode and scatter bolts and metal scraps everywhere. 

Lev cried out in victory and immense pain, sobbing violently each time he had to move his bad foot up a step. 

One, two, three more hauls of his body had his hands clawing at the edge of the mountain.

“Lev!” Yaku cried. 

“Yaku!” Lev sobbed back. 

Lev struggled to pull himself up as he kept grasping onto whatever land he could.

“Lev!” Yaku cried again, reaching out his hand for Lev to grab a hold of. 

Lev remained wincing in pain but pulled himself up as best he could, his chest almost level with the edge of the mountain top. 

“Yaku…” Lev sobbed pain, happiness, and relief in his eyes. He weakly reached for the hand Yaku was holding out, his fingertips shaking. 

Yaku quickly swiped his hand away, a manic smile spreading across his face, seemingly sharp teeth gleaming, brown eyes spiraling as he stared down at Lev, his eyes blown wide. 

I gasped, _what the hell—_

Yaku began to stomp on Lev’s supporting hand, making Lev shriek as the other hand he had raised came back to clutch the ledge. 

Yaku only ceased his stomping once Lev’s hand was mangled and bloody, arm going limp at his side as he struggled to keep himself up with his remaining hand. 

“Yak—ku—why—” Lev gasped out, face red, tears streaking down. 

Yaku only heaved before kicking Lev’s fingers, sending him falling backward, plummeting towards the ground. 

We watched like brainless animals, stunned, speechless, as Lev plunged at an extreme speed. 

The screens switched from a view at the ledge to a full view of Lev as he was falling, the look of sheer panic and betrayal forcing tears out of me. 

Then suddenly a gut-wrenching, sickening, vomit-inducing, crunch pierced our ears. The camera cut out right before we could see the hit. 

I slapped a hand over my mouth and clenched my stomach as I shrieked and sobbed violently. 

The reveal was brutal, extremely graphic. 

Slowly the screen zoomed out, displaying _everything_ to our eyes. 

Lev laid on his back, broken arms and legs sprawled out, pink blood seeping out around him. The crown of his head was bashed in from the impact of the fall, gushing thick amounts of blood. 

_I couldn’t tell what was bits of his bone and what was rock and gravel._

_I’m going to be sick—_

I tore my eyes away from the screens. Giving myself a breather before staring up at the screen with my bleary vision.

The camera angle was back at the ledge, where Yaku stood. 

Suddenly, a quiet sizzling noise was heard.

Yaku’s skin began to bubble and drip, his entire body morphing to mush.

The body we assumed was Yaku melted away, revealing a Monokuma. 

Its body shook and jiggled, its little shoulders bouncing. It appeared to be laughing as it looked over the edge at Lev’s crushed Body. 

It turned on a heel before wobbling away, the black and white bear’s form slowly disappearing as it walked into the distance. 

The doors in front of us shut heavily. 

“Laugh at death… and your soul will forever be at peace.” 

We all turned around slowly, facing Monokuma and the courtroom. 

Another murder… another trial… another execution…

_I want to feel again._ All lives are taken so lightly here, I feel like I’m drowning in my own head… _maybe I’ll just let it happen..._

I looked at Monokuma, I felt as if we made eye contact—and—and—something inside of me just snapped. 

“Why the _hell_ do you do this? Why? These executions! Why?” I sobbed, all of my sadness and anger rushing out at once. 

“Why? This punishment, this despair—is my gift to mankind itself!” He cackled, holding his stomach. 

“You’re over-exaggerating,” Tsukishima said flatly, his tone lacking the mocking edge it always adorned. 

“Am not! These punishments are meant to transform all hope into despair!” Monokuma he giggled menacingly. 

Monokuma’s cackles spread throughout the courtroom, and the curtain closed on the case of Yaku and Lev. 

But I knew this wasn’t the end.

The killing game would still continue. 

Because the mastermind wouldn’t let it end.

For those of us who are still alive… our despair kept multiplying. The kind of overwhelming despair that made us feel as if a blind puppy in hell had a better future than us… 

All of our courage, friendship, effort… it felt useless like it amounted to absolutely nothing at all. 

_It was the worst kind of despair._

————————————————————————

“It’s a bitch convincing people to like you,” he spat, huffing and leaning into his palm. “Pull that shit again and you’ll sleep on the floor of your dorm.” 

“Look I said I was—”

“You better start spicing things up soon or I’m gonna get real angry with you.” He hissed, arms crossed.

“I told you I would. We’re on the same side, remember?” I reasoned.

“Yeah, I remember better than anybody. Now keep your mouth shut and hold up your end of the deal or I will not hesitate to _kill you_.” He snarled, crossing one leg over the other. 

_“I will.”_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 𝚁𝙴𝙼𝙰𝙸𝙽𝙸𝙽𝙶 𝚂𝚃𝚄𝙳𝙴𝙽𝚃𝚂: 𝟷𝟾


	11. The Duty of The Strong

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey guys! I finally got around to another chapter :)!! I’m so excited for you guys to see what I wrote this chapter, it’s very interesting. There will be point of view switching as well.
> 
> That being said, ⚠️TRIGGER WARNING⚠️ for the content ahead. Abuse, mentions of sexual assault and incestual themes. 
> 
> This is NOT meant to be erotic in ANY way. This is based off of my own experiences in life and in the entertainment industry. These things are wrong and repulsive. I am writing this because things like these are REAL problems in the entertainment industry (and the real world), it is not just an edgy backstory. Please read with caution!

_ “Wake up, shirmpayyyy!”  _

A loud thud jolted me awake, along with the loud voice. I sucked in a quick breath as I woke up with the force of cold water being splashed on me. 

“Did you seriously need to kick the door down, Bokuto?” A voice scolded.

“Huh?” I choked out, in disarray and confusion. I hastily began to rub at my eyes, trying to clear my bleary vision. 

“It’s breakfast time, short-stack!” The voice yelled again. 

I wiped my eyes again and then realized who was standing in my doorway. 

Bokuto and Akaashi, up bright and early. 

Bokuto stood with both hands on his hips, a proud smirk on his features. Akaashi stood next to him with an exasperated expression as he examined my door that was wide open. 

Akaashi sighed and turned towards me. “I’m sorry Bokuto kicked your door open, I told him to knock—but, he thought this way would be much ‘cooler’.” He explained, bowing apologetically.

“It’s his fault for sleepin’ through the morning announcements.” Bokuto shot back at Akaashi. 

_ Shit, I slept through them? Oh well. _

“No, no! It’s okay!” I reassured Akaashi, shaking my hands in front of me, “The doors’ fine so let’s go eat! I’m starving.” I smiled. 

Bokuto let out a hearty laugh, “That’s my shrimpy-doo!” He cheered, “Now let’s go get some grub, Soogs is cookin’!” He sang, strutting down the hallway with both his fists up in the air. 

Akaashi turned to me and bowed his head once more, to which I replied with a smile. 

I quickly slid on my slippers and ran a hand through my hair, jogging over to Akaashi who was politely waiting for me at the door.

We walked out into the hall to see Kenma and Tanaka walking groggily towards the dining hall, Kenma of course slumped over and trudging around with his console in hand. He sent a quick wave to me before resuming his button tapping to which I smiled. I said good morning to Tanaka and he parroted back a gruff “g’mornin’.”

The farther we walked down the hall, the stronger the smell of Suga’s breakfast. The heavenly scent reached me fast, and I felt my mouth water with every waft of spice, sugar, and salt. 

I jogged into the dining hall, feeling my stomach rumble with anticipation at the sight of everything laid out on the table. 

Multiple bowls of rice, eggs, two big pots of miso soup, a platter piled with onigiri, and a three-tiered plate display with fluffy melonpan spread across the long table, each item steaming and letting off a wonderful smell. 

“Holy shit Suga, this looks insane!” Tanaka shouted, now wide awake, making googly eyes at every dish. 

“Haha, thanks!” Suga laughed bashfully, looking at us from over his shoulder. Asahi and Daichi were both at his sides, cleaning up around the counter. Daichi was putting away cleaned pots, bowls, and utensils, while Asahi was on sugar and spice duty. He easily reached the top shelf—lucky him—and put away each condiment carefully.

“I couldn’t have done it without these two though,” Suga prompted with a smile, setting down his spoon and holding up both of his hands, which Daichi and Asahi happily high-fived with a chuckle from all of them.

“Don’t forget Yamaguchi, he prepared a special sweet snack for you all. I could’ve never made melonpan that good!” Suga said, giving Yamaguchi a thumbs up, making Yamaguchi laugh sheepishly in response. 

“It’s really nothing. I love cooking for you guys!” Yamaguchi said, before digging into his own breakfast.

I took my usual seat next to Kageyama, who had a huge plate filled with a little—no, a lot of everything. It was nothing compared to the size of Noya’s though, Asahi had to remind him to save some for other people.

Noya looked happy with his plate though, and I doubt he would ever waste any food. 

Everyone began taking their seats, with a few more people waking up and coming to join the rest of us. Suga took the last pot of the miso soup that he was stirring and brought it over to the table. 

I looked around the table. This morning was off to a great start, we got an amazing breakfast, and everyone looked happy. 

_ I couldn’t help but think about how we were just carrying on though… it had been less than 24 hours since Yaku and Lev left us. I understand that it’s what we have to do but… I feel bad... _

“Alright everyone, have you all made your plates?” Suga asked the table, snapping me out of my thoughts. He was met with nods and yesses. “Alright then, let’s start eating.” He smiled. 

“Thank you for the food!” We all said in unison, before beginning to eat. 

“Oh—I’m late?” A voice came from the doorway. We all looked over.

“Sorry I missed the thank you, guys…” Oikawa said, brushing down his blazer. “I guess I just woke up late…” 

Late was right, he looked pretty rough. Compared to his usual put-together look I was kinda shocked. His hair had a ton of flyaways and he definitely looked the part of being tired.

“That’s alright,” Daichi assured, “We were just about to start eating.” 

“Yeah! You’re actually kinda right on time.” Suga added. 

Oikawa hummed, raising his eyebrows in response. 

“I can’t believe you guys didn’t even know I was missing,” Oikawa scoffed, “I must say I’m a little bit offended.” He scowled, taking his seat next to Iwaizumi. 

“Trust me, we ignored that by choice.” Tsukishima gibed, picking at his small plate. 

Oikawa opened his mouth to say something back, but Iwaizumi put his hand on his chest to stop him. 

Oikawa closed his mouth and furrowed his eyebrows, looking at Iwaizumi curiously. 

“Just shut up and eat,” Iwaizumi said, pushing a plate towards Oikawa, “Before it gets cold.” 

“Glad to know someone cares about me,” Oikawa nagged, speaking to the table. 

Iwa smacked him in the back of the head, glaring at Oikawa, who whined in pain. 

_ “Eat.”  _ Iwaizumi hissed, his glare strong and demanding, before he turned back to his own food. 

Oikawa shivered, and started eating his food without another word. 

Kageyama and I glanced at each other, eyebrows raised before we started eating ourselves. 

The food was delicious of course, having the perfect amount of sour, sugar, spice, and savory in each dish. Everyone chowed down, most of us already moving on to our second or third plate.

We all finished eating what we had gathered quickly, all of us bringing our dishes over to the sink. 

“I hope you all enjoyed breakfast,” Suga said, already beginning to gather plates and pots, “Now you can all go off and do your own thing, make sure you tell everyone if something’s up.” He smiled, walking away to the kitchen sink with all of his dishes. 

“I’ll be helping Suga with the dishes, so feel free to come back and see us. After we’re done cleaning up we’ll probably head to the library, so you can find us there.” Daichi said, passing more things to Suga. They really made a great team!

“Thanks for all the food Soogs! Yummy as hell!” Noya shouted, waving crazily as he dragged Asahi out of the dining hall. 

Suga yelled a goodbye over his shoulder, chuckling to himself as he and Daichi continued cleaning. Suga and Daichi were met with more goodbyes and thank yous, gracious bows and waves. 

Seats soon became empty as everyone went their separate ways. I can only imagine what people do in their free time. 

Some people were taking their time to digest and talk amongst themselves. 

Iwaizumi abruptly got up, passed his plate over to Suga, and started leaving without a word.

“Where are you going? I’m not even done!” Oikawa yelled.

Iwaizumi kept walking, “Finish then, I’m not waiting for you.” He retorted, disappearing behind the doorway and into the hall.

Oikawa gapped at this, blinking a few times before huffing, eating his food again.

_ What was all that about? Why are they both being weird? _

“Ready dumbass? I’ve been waiting for you.” Kageyama complained, a displeased expression on his face, his arms crossed.

“Oh, yeah, one second,” I replied, picking up my plate and silverware. I scurried over to Suga and Daichi, handing Suga the plate. 

“Thank you, Hinata,” Suga said, taking my dish and beginning to wash it. 

“Of course! Thank you for breakfast!” I thanked, bowing to Daichi and Suga. They smiled in response, and I made my way over to Kageyama.

We started to walk out together.

“Now, since you were a dumbass and slept through the morning announcements, you missed a few things,” Kageyama spoke. “There’s more labs now. Mine, Akaashi’s, Semi’s, and Ushiwaka’s. They’re all open on the second floor.” He explained, leading us towards the large set of stairs. 

“We’ll investigate them then. I’m excited to see your lab, I bet it’s super cool.” I said as we began to walk up the staircase. 

“Hey, Hinata,” Kageyama began.

“Yeah?” I responded.

“Do you ever wonder what the others get up to while we investigate?” He asked, eyebrows furrowed.

“Yeah, sometimes. But I don’t think too much about it. I’m sure they’re not doing anything bad.” I shrugged.

“I mean… like…” Kageyama paused, halting our venture up the stairs. “What the hell does that asshole Oikawa get up to?” He asked, the question hanging in the air like he was asking himself. I gave him a weird look, tilting my head at him. Kageyama shook his head, “Well, I bet it’s nothing normal.” He said defensively, upturning his nose, shrugging, and playing it off like he didn’t care.

“You’re probably right,” I snickered, beginning to walk up the staircase again. 

————————————————————————

Akaashi walked down the hall quietly, violently tugging and pushing at his fingers like he was trying to pull the anxiety out of his body. 

Things have been… tense.

It’s been just him and the man for a while now. Just the two of them.

The man was getting hostile, he had always been easy to anger. 

Akaashi went against his request _ —his command— _ and wore the wrong outfit. 

They were attending an outing tonight that Keiji had been formally invited to. Managers, talent scouts, well-known brands, and corporations were all going to be there, a handful of them already having their eyes set on Akaashi.

Although Akaashi loved these outings, because he got to see the good side of the man, he couldn’t bring himself to wear what he wanted. He wasn’t going to wear a skirt in public. He knew why the man chose that and was disgusted beyond belief. Why would he subject himself to more? The skirts led to the touches.

He raised his closet and found his favorite navy tux.

And so here he was, petrified of presenting himself to the man, in absolute fear of his reaction. 

He stepped in front of the door, cracked at the hinges and a chip missing from the bottom. Akaashi softly knocked, to which he got a “Get in here” in response. It was gruff, and he already sounded on edge.  _ Akaashi felt sick. _

Slowly the Akaashi opened the door, stepping in cautiously, and presenting himself to the man.

“Keiji, what the hell are you wearing?” The man barked, blowing out smoke from the long drag of his cigarette. “I told you the theme of this event is purple! And look at you, wearing fucking blue! No one is going to book you, you can’t even follow simple directions!” The man shouted, thrashing around in his chair. 

Akaashi winced at the loudness, his toes curling in his shoes. “I-I like this outfit, I—I just didn’t like the purple one—” He tried to reason, frantically searching for any kind of excuse. 

“Bull-fucking-shit you sissy!” The man roared, abruptly standing up from his chair. Akaashi stepped back a little, scared of worsening the man’s anger, but knowing he needed to run.  _ Run before things escalated.  _

“I told you purple, so you’re gonna wear purple! Your job is to make me fuckin’ money!” The man yelled, yanking Akaashi forward by his yellow tie. “So you best get that purple on, or—or—I’ll have some fun tonight.” The man nodded to himself, his anger fading into a sick, shaky smile, as he looked his son in the eyes, “Don’t fuckin’ want that do ya?” 

Akaashi shook violently, remembering the time again, that one time before, and— 

He shoved the man off of him and bolted down the hall, knocking over the vases that hadn’t been broken yet. Tears filled his eyes as he struggled to not cry, crying made it hard to see, and hard to see made it hard to get to his room—his room—the room with the lock, and he was so close, he could see the door down the hall so close, yes so close!

“Nice fuckin’ try you little bitch!” The man barked, and Akaashi’s wrist was gripped, so iron tight that he screamed so loud in anguish, he knew what was coming, he knew what he had done, he knew—he knew—

His own thoughts were completely blanked as the red hot pain pierced his arm, being pushed into his milky skin so hard he found it difficult to believe that it didn’t go through to the other side. 

_ Another burn. _

“I’m sorry! I’m sorry, I’ll wear the purple, I’ll wear it—” Akaashi wailed as he was dragged down the hall towards the man’s room. 

“Yeah, I know you’ll fuckin’ wear it, after I teach you a damn lesson! Now shut the fuck up Keiji!” He retorted angrily. 

_ “Please! _ Not that, I said I was sorry, please, I meant it—I did!” 

Another scream from his own mouth cut off the stream of nonsense he was babbling, as yet another burn was pressed into his skin. 

He was thrown into the man’s room, falling onto his freshly burnt arm. 

“You just wait til’ you see what I’m gonna do to you,”

_ “Akaashi.” _

  
  


“Akaashi?”

“Akaashi!”

———

“Akaashi!” 

I jumped, blinking my eyes rapidly, looking at the man before me. 

Bokuto waved his hand in front of my face, blinking owlishly at me. He chuckled. 

“Earth to Kaashi,” Bokuto smiled, his head snapping towards something at his left. “Oh my god, Akaashi, Akaashi!” Bokuto chirped, running over to what he saw. 

“Yes, Bokuto?” I felt my lips slightly turn up. So one-track minded. 

“You got fricken nail polish?! Oh please, please, please, paint my nails!” Bokuto begged, turning around, clutching multiple bottles in each fist. 

“You… want me to paint your nails?” I asked slowly, eyes grazing over each color. 

“Yes!” Bokuto cheered, picking a color from the many he grabbed. “This one, It’s so pretty!” Bokuto squealed, holding up a bottle filled with blue. 

I nodded, reaching out for the bottle, and patting my bed for Bokuto to sit down on. 

I felt the bed dip as he joined me, happily holding out his hand for me to take. 

“I always wanted my sisters to do my nails,” Bokuto smiled, “But mom and dad said I’d just chip them doing Aikido, so I never did.” He shrugged. 

“I always wanted to though, just didn’t want mom and dad to be mad at me.” He added. 

I carefully shook the bottle, listening to his words. “I didn’t know you had sisters Bokuto,” I remarked, gently grabbing his hand, “I’m an only child.” 

“Woah, what’s that like?” Bokuto asked, eyes wide and looking at me with wonder. 

“It’s alright. Mom hasn’t been around for a while, so it’s just me and…” I cleared my throat, looking everywhere but Bokuto’s eyes awkwardly, “Dad.” I finished quickly, spitting the word out fast as to not be caught by the remnants of disparity. He wasn’t my father in the slightest. 

Bokuto blinked once, twice, three times, “Oh,” he said, “I’m really sorry about that Kaashi…” He frowned. 

“Don’t be Bokuto, that wasn’t your fault,” I assured him softly, stroking the brush coated in polish across his nail.

Bokuto’s face contorted in discomfort. “It’s cold!” He whined, squirming.

“Stop squirming, I’m going to mess up,” I said, holding his hand a bit tighter to steady myself. 

“Sorry Kaashi,” Bokuto apologized, stifling a laugh as he turned his head away, “It just feels weird!” He said, cracking up.

“I won’t look till’ you’re done! It makes it tickle less.” He stated, keeping his chin angled up and staring at the ceiling. 

“Well good, because I’m almost done,” I responded, a small smile reaching my features. 

After a moment of silence, Bokuto spoke again.

“Do you know why I became a martial artist, Akaashi?”

“Well, it’s a family tradition, right? I’d assume that’s why, at least part of it.” 

“Nah, I actually wanted nothing to do with that... I didn’t wanna be forced into something, y’know? It didn’t really feel right when I started learning, so I kinda just said to hell with this for a bit.” 

“Oh...” I said quietly. “Well, how did you become an ultimate then? These talents take so much devotion.” 

“I took a look at myself, and I realized why my parents thought I’d be so perfect for the role. I’ve always been big—buff y’know?” 

“I thought I could help people who were weak I guess? Well seen as weak anyways... there isn’t really a real definition of that, right?" Bokuto smiled awkwardly, before running a hand through his hair. 

“What I’m trying to say is Kaashi, I just want to protect people, I want to use my strength and natural skill to help the weak.” 

“I’d assume that’s why you were quite upset when we found Yaku, right?” I remarked, realizing just how much sense that made now.

“Yeah,” he sighed, “I... didn’t have high hopes for him. He was short, sure, kinda had noodle arms, yeah, but he was a lil’ spitfire. He did well for himself, but Lev saw the power difference and that’s what caused him to snap...” 

“What I’m trying to say is, I wanna use my power for good, Akaash. Only good. And I wanna protect those who need it. That’s why I was so pissed off, y’know?” 

My eyes were slightly widened, his lips a little parted, eyebrows a bit furrowed. 

He gave me a lopsided smile and rubbed at the back of his neck. “Sorry if that was weird," he said, laughing a little. 

My face softened, a small, soft smile now, his eyebrows still furrowed, my expression confused but happy. Only Bokuto could give me these feelings.

“No, not at all Bokuto,” I replied, my thumb rubbing over the knuckles on his opposite hand. “Actually, thank you for sharing that,” I added.

“Of course, Akaashi! Conversations with you are the best!” He grinned. 

“Now I’m kinda curious, Kaashi, why did you become a model?” Bokuto asked.

“Well, it wasn’t really on purpose...” I trailed off, “Much like you, I guess it kind of just happened? But I didn’t have much of a motivation.” I explained.

“I was discovered on the street by some photographer one day, who basically instilled the idea in my-“ I paused to clear my throat, “Father’s head. I was always told by family members, even friends, sometimes school picture photographers, but that was what seemed to set him off.” I spoke, barely recalling the events from so long ago. 

“I didn’t really have fun per se, and it wasn’t something I was really interested in, but it made him happy and I was quite successful, so that’s that.” I finished, not caring to go more in-depth with the story.

“Um, hey Akaashi? Can I ask you another question?” Bokuto asked, his words a hesitant preamble to his next question. 

“I don’t see why not Bokuto, go ahead,” I said, cautiousness filling my veins. 

“What was… your dad like?” He asked quietly.

My heart twinged at the question. It’s been quite a while since someone has asked for my input that I almost didn’t know how to answer. It was very sudden that he asked these questions, but a part of me felt so incredibly compelled to answer.  _ Honestly. _

“Cruel.” My mouth spat out on its own accord. Bokuto said nothing. 

“A cruel man who expected me to be at his beck and call, but it’s not like I could refuse, or refused much, he would force me anyway.” I continued, still unable to stop the word vomit rushing out of my mouth.

Bokuto was still silent, I gulped at his unusual lack of words, and quickly tried to fix the situation. 

“But—we’re family, what kind of son would I be if I didn’t help my father? It was really nothing. It’s not like I was forced to do anything bad.” 

“Stop lying, Akaashi.” 

My words halted at the tone of his voice. I looked up and Bokuto wore a frown.

“I see right through you Akaashi… I know you don’t mean that.” 

“I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have said anything—” I panicked, unable to come up with another lie.

Bokuto gently intertwined his fingers with mine, and gave me a light squeeze. I felt grounded.

“Whatever happened with you and your dad wasn’t good, and I know that, but, you're not alone. I can't stand to watch this eat away at you…” He said solemnly. Now it was my turn to be quiet.

“Just keep painting my nails, okay? Tell me in your own time.” He spoke softly, slipping his fingers from mine. He gave me a smile coated in sadness. 

I could only nod as I reached for his hand again.

“Thank you, Bokuto.” 

It was awkward to resume painting his nails after he said all of that, and quite frankly, I was overwhelmed by how much he said. He really saw through me huh? I shook my head and smiled.

I finished up the coat on his pinky, satisfied with how it turned out. I was a little rusty on painting nails, but I managed to make out with no smudges or any overlining. 

I raised his hand and started to blow air onto them softly, to aid them in drying quickly.

“Ah! That tickles too!” Bokuto giggled, squeezing his eyes shut.

“Okay, okay,” I smiled along with him, “Your first hand is done, take a look.” 

Bokuto made a noise of excitement, head snapping back down to look at his nails.

I don’t understand how Bokuto can change his mood just like that. I also don’t understand how he simultaneously changes my mood as well, but I was fond of it. Any more of that awkward, suffocating atmosphere and I think I would have just about fainted. I’m glad Bokuto shifted the mood.

“Akaashi! My nails look so freakin’ cool!” Bokuto gasped, waving his dry hand in front of his face, his eyes sparkling at the color. His favorite, blue. It was a curious color, a deep midnight blue that when reflected off light would have a purple undertone. 

“You like them, Bokuto?” I asked softly, looking up from the hand in progress, not being able to help the violently contagious smile he wore. My smile wasn’t even a fourth of his, yes, but that was something we were working on. Ever since he found out, no, ever since I absolutely poured my guarded heart out to him, his attempts to make me smile came so easy, it’s almost as if the word futile doesn’t exist in his vocabulary.

I felt oddly safe and free in his presence. I figure that’s just Bokuto. Despite his intimidating physique similar to those who have tainted me, and the powerful atmosphere that he creates, he strikes me as just a large, lovable puppy. Most similar to a disobedient and jumpy one, but that doesn’t stop him from being the favorite of the neighborhood. 

“Of course I like them akaashi! Not only did you do them, which makes them already super cool, they’re so pretty—” Bokuto cut himself off with a large gasp, making me grip his hand as to not smudge the polish, “Just like you!” He squealed. 

I seized up, a chill running through me. 

“Pretty?” I asked with a small voice, smaller than before. It wasn’t the same kind of soft, no, this was the kind of voice that contained small rasps and sounded like a whine. I hated that. 

Bokuto furrowed his eyebrows harshly at my reaction, a small pout displayed on his lips. He cocked his head to the side. Even in my relapsing state, a part of me smiled at that. I couldn’t show it at this moment though. 

“Not... like a girl... right?” I asked, retracting my hands slowly, pulling them into my stomach, already beginning to pull and rub at my fingers. I unconsciously curled into myself, my shoulders tensing, and my back hunching. 

“Of course not!” Bokuto wailed, making me snap out of the sort of trance I had been sucked into.

“Pretty like Akaashi, not some girl.” Bokuto declared, rolling his eyes and shaking his head at the world girl. Was... he scolding me? 

Slowly but surely, I regained my composure. I bloomed, sitting up into the trained posture I maintained whenever I was in the presence of virtually anyone. It was a habit, I suppose. Still, painfully enough, I was visibly uncomfortable. I could see my pitiful self through Bokuto’s big golden eyes. 

To the normal eye, I looked the same. Bokuto was an odd exception though, it was almost as if he always knew what I was thinking and feeling. Peculiar, of course, how he couldn’t keep his own emotions under wraps, but when it came to mine he could see right through me.

“Hey, hey! Akaashi!” Bokuto whined, his random psychoanalysis side, (that he probably wasn’t even aware he had,) vanishing just as soon as it came into play. 

“Ah... yes, Bokuto?” 

“Can you finish my nails? I can’t have anyone seeing me half done up, Akaashi.” Bokuto pouted. 

“Of course, Bokuto,” I replied, that small smile creeping its way onto my face once more. I grabbed his wrist gently, pulling it towards me. 

I grabbed the wand, carefully glazing another nail with a top coat of polish.

“You sure say hey a lot, Bokuto,” I said, quite randomly for my taste, but I was with Bokuto after all. Anything could happen. I enjoyed that possibility. 

“Ah—well it’s kinda my thing! I don’t have any special charm like you, Akaashi!” Bokuto responded bashfully, flicking the wrist of his free hand at me.

I looked down, my off-hand squeezing my thigh, my own nails digging at me through the pants I had on. 

“Charm, huh?” I asked. It was hypothetical, more like a statement. Bokuto only gave me a cheeky grin, and I resumed painting his nails. 

We sat in a comfortable silence, which was more me being quiet while Bokuto blabbered occasionally about whatever came to his mind. 

_ That was the perfect silence to me though.  _

  
  
  
  
  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 𝚁𝙴𝙼𝙰𝙸𝙽𝙸𝙽𝙶 𝚂𝚃𝚄𝙳𝙴𝙽𝚃𝚂: 𝟷𝟾


End file.
